Photo of Cressida Cowell

Cressida Cowell

Cressida grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland. The island had no roads, houses or electricity. For the first four years, the family would be dropped off like castaways on the island by a local boatman and picked up again two weeks later. Imagine being like Robinson Crusoe and having a whole island to yourself to explore…

By the time Cressida was eight, the family had built a small stone house on the island, so they no longer had to camp out in tents, which made life much drier. Her father got a boat, so they could fish for enough food to feed the family for the whole summer.

Every year, Cressida spent the long summer holiday, and some of the spring, on the island. The house was lit by candle-light, and there was no electricity, telephone or television, so Cressida and the family lived like people in the olden days. In the evening, Cressida’s father told the children old Scottish tales about the people who lived on the islands round about, who were always fighting and tricking each other, and about dragons living in caves in the cliffs.

Cressida spent her time writing stories, fishing for things to eat, and exploring the island looking for these dragons. These childhood experiences (quite apart from her fluency in Old Norse, of course), made her delighted to be approached to translate the Hiccup memoirs…

After leaving school Cressida studied English at university, and then got degrees in graphic design and illustration at art college. For her final project at art school she created a childrens’ book called Little Bo Peep’s Library Book and was lucky enough to have that book published in 1998. She has gone on to write ten more picture books, including the popular Emily Brown stories, which won the Nestle Childrens’ Book Prize in 2006.

In 2002 she began to write a book for older children. Remembering the stories she had written on the island as a child, these ideas became the book How to Train Your Dragon. There are now nine books in the Hiccup series, and a DreamWorks Animation film of How to Train Y0ur Dragon came out in 2010!

Cressida lives in London with her husband, three children and a hamster.

Books by Cressida Cowell

  • A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons

    A Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons

  • How to Be a Pirate

    How to Be a Pirate

  • How to Be a Viking

    How to Be a Viking

  • How to Betray a Dragon's Hero

    How to Betray a Dragon's Hero

  • How to Break a Dragon's Heart

    How to Break a Dragon's Heart

  • How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse

    How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse

  • How to Fight a Dragon's Fury

    How to Fight a Dragon's Fury

  • How to Fight a Dragon's Fury

    How to Fight a Dragon's Fury

  • How to Fight a Dragon's Fury

    How to Fight a Dragon's Fury

  • How to Ride a Dragon's Storm

    How to Ride a Dragon's Storm

  • How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel

    How to Seize a Dragon's Jewel

  • How to Speak Dragonese

    How to Speak Dragonese

  • How to Steal a Dragon's Sword

    How to Steal a Dragon's Sword

  • How to Train Your Dragon

    How to Train Your Dragon

  • How to Twist a Dragon's Tale

    How to Twist a Dragon's Tale

  • Knock Three Times

    Knock Three Times

  • The Incomplete Book of Dragons

    The Incomplete Book of Dragons

  • The Wizards of Once

    The Wizards of Once

  • The Wizards of Once

    The Wizards of Once

  • The Wizards of Once: Knock Three Times

    The Wizards of Once: Knock Three Times

  • Twice Magic

    Twice Magic

  • Twice Magic

    Twice Magic

  • Which Way to Anywhere

    Which Way to Anywhere

Awards

Cressida Cowell has won many major awards including the Nestles Smarties Prize for This Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown and the Blue Peter Book Award for The Wizards of Once. In July 2019 she was named Children’s Laureate 2019-2021.