Cressida Cowell

Cressida Cowell grew up mostly in Central London. She has a B.A. in English Literature from Oxford, a B.A. in Graphic Design from St Martin's and an M.A. in Narrative Illustration from Brighton.

Cressida wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Little Bo Peep's Library Book for Hodder Children's Books in 1998. This was followed by various picture books including Hiccup: The Viking Who Was Seasick, published in 2000. Hiccup the Viking returned in Cressida's first novel for eight to twelve year olds, How To Train Your Dragon, published to popular and critical acclaim in 2003. How To Train Your Dragon has now been published in 27 languages. She has now written nine novels about Hiccup, with the latest, How to Steal a Dragon's Sword, published in 2011.

A 3D animated film of How To Train Your Dragon was released by Dreamworks in March 2010, and a sequel is in development.

Cressida finds illustrating her own work satisfying, but she also loves writing books for other people to illustrate. Her picture book That Rabbit Belongs To Emily Brown, illustrated by Neil Layton, was winner of the 5 and Under category of the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006. Cressida and Neil have since collaborated on the sequels, Emily Brown And The Thing, Emily Brown And The Elephant Emergency, and Cheer Up Your Teddy Bear, Emily Brown.