Welcoming Cressida Cowell
6 June 2023
On Tuesday, we were delighted to welcome Cressida Cowell, author and illustrator of the hugely popular How to Train your Dragon and Wizards of Once children’s series. Cressida is currently touring schools to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of her first How to Train Your Dragon Book and was also promoting the launch of the paperback edition of the first book in her new series, ‘Which Way to Anywhere’.
A passionate campaigner for children’s literacy and the power of the imagination, Cressida captivated her audience of boys in Years 3 – 6 with tales of her childhood holidays on a remote Scottish island, off-grid and let loose with great freedom to explore her environment and let her mind run wild. Using a series of slides and animations, she talked about her struggles at school, her nickname Messy Cressy coined because of her untidy handwriting, and her passion for recording all her thoughts and dreams in her notebooks. She encouraged the children to build on their creativity by using ‘your magical thoughts, your magical fingers and your magic eyes!’ and implored them never to give up. Everyone has to start somewhere and it doesn’t matter if you find something really hard, you can still succeed.
One of the boys commented afterwards, ‘She spoke to us as if she was one of us, as if she was a child still’. The resounding ovation she received and the long queue of boys waiting to have their books signed was testament to the successful reception of her message!
