So, she ended up having all 12 books read to her with excellent voice acting, complete with all manner of accents and booming deliveries. I would rate the film more highly, and that's a rarity for me.ĮDIT: In a nice update, Celyn got a young carer who was not only a huge fan of the books, but a skilled actor (doing theatre studies at university). It has some clever bits, some funny bits, and Celyn and me certainly didn't waste our time reading it. The book is good fun but a touch too silly for there to be any real emotional connection with the characters - always a minus for me. Also as in the film there is a hostile uber-dragon (two in fact) that is truly gargantuan. A thinker in a world that's all about fighting. An outsider at odds with his societal norms. In the book the young Vikings (boys only) own and train dragons.Īctually I lie. In the film the young Vikings are trained (in a mixed class) to battle dragons. That's about the end of the similarities. Both share some comical Vikings and a weedy 'hero' named Hiccup. She did fall asleep a couple of times but to be fair she was recoving from a general anaesthetic. I bought the book for my daughter Celyn's 9th birthday and read it to her (she's registered blind and couldn't watch the movie). I saw the film a while back and really enjoyed it. Cressida lives in Hammersmith with her husband and three children.Ħ. Also the author of picture books, Cressida has won the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 and has been shortlisted for many others. A DreamWorks Animation feature film is out in March 2010. How to Train Your Dragon is now published in over 30 languages. The unique blend of child centred humour and sublime prose made Hiccup an instant hit. Cressida has written and illustrated eight books in the popular Hiccup series. Cressida loves illustrating her own work, but also loves writing books for other people to illustrate as the end result can be so unexpected and inspiring. She has a BA in English Literature from Oxford University, a BA in Graphic Design from St Martin's and an MA in Narrative Illustration from Brighton. She was convinced that there were dragons living on this island, and has been fascinated by dragons ever since. Cressida Cowell grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland.

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