Cressida Cowell is the author and illustrator of the bestselling The Wizards of Once and How to Train Your Dragon books series, and the author of the Emily Brown picture books, illustrated by Neal Layton.
The Wizards of Once series has been translated into 37 languages and has been signed by DreamWorks Animation. How to Train Your Dragon has sold over 8 million books worldwide in 38 languages and is a major DreamWorks Animation film franchise, as well as being made into a TV series on Netflix and CBBC.
Cressida is currently the Waterstones Children’s Laureate (2019 – 2021). She is also an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency, a Trustee of World Book Day and a founder patron of the Children’s Media Foundation. She has won numerous prizes, including the Gold Award in the Nestle Children’s Book Prize.
Cressida grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland. She she now lives in Hammersmith, London, with her husband, three children and a dog called Pigeon
The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Rauf
This is a lovely, warm book that is all about kindness, and putting yourself into someone else’s shoes.
The Lorax by Dr Suess
This is an incredibly important book with a message about environmentalism. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot/Nothing is going to get better, it’s not”. You have a heart of stone if you’re not moved by this book.
The Ogre Downstairs by Diana Wynne Jones
This book has wicked stepfathers, and chemicals that make you fly. When I was nine years old, I read it to my brother and sister, my cousins, to anyone who would listen, and 35 years later, I read it to my own children. I have never met a child who does not love this book.
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Pippi Longstocking was so strong she could lift a horse above her head. She had independent means, no visible parents, the cheek of several Peter Pans and her very own monkey. I longed to be her when I was a child.
Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
We need our children to have a connection with the natural world, and the language to describe it is crucial. Robert and Jackie’s book is not only a truly beautiful book, it’s an important one too.
Follow Cressida on Twitter at @CressidaCowell
