Emily Brown and the Thing

Cressida Cowell grew up in London and on a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland. She was convinced that there were dragons living on this island, and has been fascinated by dragons ever since. 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. 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. Cressida has written and illustrated eleven books in the popular Hiccup series. The unique blend of child-centred humour and sublime prose made Hiccup an instant hit and the series is now published in over 30 languages. How to Train Your Dragon is now a major DreamWorks Animation feature film series: the first film received both Oscar and BAFTA nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score; and a sequel is released in summer 2014. An animated series, Riders of Berk, launched on the Cartoon Network in 2012. Also the author of picture books, Cressida has won the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 and has been shortlisted for many others. She is an Ambassador for the National Literacy Trust and The Reading Agency, and a founder patron of the Children's Media Foundation. Cressida lives in Hammersmith with her husband and three children. Check out Cressida's Hiccup website: www.howtotrainyourdragonbooks.com

A fantastic tale. * North West Evening Mail * Imaginative, funky * Daily Mail * Rascally bedtime fare * Booklist Online * The illustrations are often dark and complex but they are entirely appropriate to the story * School Librarian * Cowell's narrative is both deeply rooted in the conventions of folk tale...and yet refreshingly contemporary and colloquial in tone. Such layers of richness are confidently matched by Layton's brilliantly anarchic illustrations...Emily Brown and Stanley are most appealing characters and, like Sendak's Max, more than a match for wild Things * Books for Keeps * A warm-hearted and witty take on the classic theme of being scared of the dark * Family Interest Magazine * A simple story, imaginatively reflected in wildly wonderful artwork, that will delight both old and young readers * Carousel * This is a wonderful story about a small girl dealing with a very high maintenance monster called the Thing. It's funny, it's got twists and turns and shows us, among other things, that we can spend far too much time nurturing our fears rather than trying to conquer them * The Guardian * A warm-hearted and witty take on being scared of the dark * Guernsey Press & Star *