Cressida Cowell

Cressida Cowell FRSL (born 15 April 1966) is a British children's author, popularly known for the book series, How to Train Your Dragon, which has subsequently become an award-winning franchise as adapted for the screen by DreamWorks Animation.

The Hon. Cressida Cowell was born on 15 April 1966 in London.

She is the daughter of Michael Hare, 2nd Viscount Blakenham.

Her uncle, by marriage, is U.S. Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer.

As a child, Cowell states she "grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland," and that it was during summers spent on the Inner Hebrides, where she first began to develop her writing and drawing skills:

"From then on, every year we spent four weeks of the summer and two weeks of the spring on the island. The house was lit by candle-light, and there was no telephone or television, so I spent a lot of time drawing and writing stories."

Cowell attended Keble College, Oxford where she studied English, and she also attended Saint Martin's School of Art and Brighton University where she learned illustration.

She studied at Marlborough College 1982–84.

Cressida Cowell presently resides in London with her husband Simon, a former director and interim CEO of the International Save the Children Alliance; daughters Maisie and Clementine; and son Alexander.

As of 2015, the series has sold more than seven million copies around the world.

In addition to her other publications, Cowell works with illustrator Neal Layton in the ongoing series of Emily Brown stories.

The first in the series, That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown, won a Nestlé Children’s Book Award.

Cowell was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to children's literature.

In 2021, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL).