Inside Cressida Cowell's writing shed (video)

A nice video for BBC Newsround (sans John Craven, sadly) in which Cressida Cowell guides us around the spot in which she wrote the How to Train Your Dragon series.

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Cressida Cowell's June path to the writing shed

It's been some time since we caught up on Cressida Cowell's regular 'path to the writing shed' updates so here's the author of How To Train Your Dragon's evocative entry for June.

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A post shared by Cressida Cowell (@cressidacowellauthor)

Win a personal visit to Cressida Cowell's writing shed

Here's a cracking competition for shedworkers. The National Literacy Trust is running a Gala Auction (bidding on items to close at 10pm next Tuesday, March 29) to raise funds for their very worthy work "changing the life stories of the most disadvantaged children in the UK. Through literacy we provide a route out of poverty."

The winner of this item will get to virtually meet writer Cressida Cowell (author of the How to Train Your Dragon and The Wizards of Once books) via a private Zoom call. She will give you a virtual tour of her writing shed which we regularly feature here on Shedworking as well as chat about her work and current projects. More details at the National Literacy Trust.

Delighted to show the winner of this Gala auction round my writing shed! All proceeds to the wonderful @Literacy_Trust https://t.co/65XA87XuvY

— Cressida Cowell (@CressidaCowell) March 25, 2022

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Storm Franklin and Eunice vs garden offices

 It's been a torrid few days for shedworkers across the UK. Here's a roundup of some of the mayhem that the storms have caused. Be careful out there!

I didn’t take much notice of #StormEunice. Until the tree from 4 doors up crashed thru my garden studio & bathroom. I’m a grown adult but shaking like a leaf. Imagine that hitting a classroom. Or a school bus or car full of kids. Dangerous, scary stuff. Kids should be home safe. pic.twitter.com/xtJOMP3RHJ

— ⚫ Yuron Mute (@pip_pip_hooray) February 18, 2022

Have just bought all precious things in from the garden studio… pretty much all of it as I don’t fancy stumbling round the garden at 2am picking up hundreds of pencils and crystals 😐

— Laura 🌱🌙 (@thebowerhare) February 17, 2022

Tree just fell on my writing shed while I was in it. I’m ok. I *think* the shed is ok. But bloody hell, the noise was scary 😟

— Tor Udall 💙 (@TorUdall) February 21, 2022

I'll read Chapter 4 tomorrow, I promise, can't get in my writing shed because it's underneath a great big tree and the winds are still strong in London at the moment!In the meantime, here's Chapter 3 of How to Betray a Dragon's Hero, see below:#readingaloud #Booktrusthometime https://t.co/u09UK4VVYw

— Cressida Cowell (@CressidaCowell) February 21, 2022

Well, it turns out that working in the house this morning was a good call. My poor writing shed... #StormEunice pic.twitter.com/SMC87YPegu

— Paul C. Mercer (@Paul_C_Mercer) February 18, 2022

Feels like quite a hazardous commute to the writing shed this morning anyway. #StormEunice

— Eve Chase (@EvePollyChase) February 18, 2022

Storm Eunice brought our next door neighbour tree on top of our garden office. Never seen such strong wind in london pic.twitter.com/8mHbZzACrl

— Ian Wong (@Ian_HKU) February 19, 2022

Very grateful to have had the support of a builder mate who has kindly temp fixed my garden office roof. And thanks to the neighbours for clearing it all up from their back garden. #kent #StormEunice

— Graham Clewes (@GrahamClewes) February 18, 2022

I am slowly seeing tree branches littering the garden! Huddled in my garden office hoping that I won’t be blown away! #StormEunice

— Dr. Nasreen Majid (@DrMajid_nasreen) February 18, 2022

So my garden office is my first #eunice casualty. Hopefully it stops there pic.twitter.com/LzMt76IbSS

— Graham Clewes (@GrahamClewes) February 18, 2022

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A year of #shedworking

Last #SundayMorning @BBCRadio3 coming up. Join me in Garden Studio GS1 for some wonderful music including Debussy, Helene de Montgeroult, Morton Feldman, & seasonal treats from Sammartini, Yakiv Yatsynevych and Ella Fitzgerald.@bbcarts @BBCArtsPR @TandemProUK @BBCSounds pic.twitter.com/7RNWMSgpRc

— Sarah Walker (@drsarahwalker) December 18, 2021

Back at work or still working from home? Is a view of hte garden your new normal? See our blog on Shed Working - a "Shoffice" life could be for you! https://t.co/W4LpQUNeeQ #workingfromhome #shoffice #gardenoffice #homeofficegoals #workfromhome #homeofficesetup #shedworking pic.twitter.com/H1vzyYFmer

— The Posh Shed Co (@ThePoshShed) July 23, 2021

Sunny #shedworking -with my buddies🤣 almost too hot! #amwriting #sunnyScotland pic.twitter.com/TcGUiBXgpX

— Linda Strachan (@Strachanlinda) June 24, 2021

oo I love working in a shed...will be very interested to see why @Joannechocolat likes hers so much too #shedworking https://t.co/NtJ1y12mYt

— Cressida Cowell (@CressidaCowell) May 20, 2021

That’s my wood burner lit for the day! Brrrr but beautiful ☺️ #thecotswolds #shedworking pic.twitter.com/WTK5VPVqJs

— nic vickery (@nicvickerybrown) April 12, 2021

Horrendous trip to work this morning Toby and the team #shedworking @tobyfoster @BBCSheffield pic.twitter.com/wRyHCKyt2l

— Steve (@throapham1960) February 2, 2021

My office #MondayBlues #coastmagazine @coastmag #constantinebay #seascapes #shedworking #shedworkers #officeview #homeschool pic.twitter.com/i7ruPPWxi4

— Kath Hadden (@kathhaddenart) January 18, 2021

This came up again in my daily shed photos - It's a lovely space and great location - would love to do some #shedworking from this shed, whatever the weather https://t.co/2k0Axvedqm

— Andrew Wilcox I♥️sheds - Shed of the year (@unclewilco) January 5, 2021

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Win a private tour of Cressida Cowell's writing shed

The National Literacy Trust is running an online auction to raise money for its fine work bringing books to children in need across the UK. One of the items is this wonderful chance to virtually meet Childrens' Laureate Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon and The Wizards of Once series – and the Waterstones Children’s Laureate.

Over a private Zoom call, Cressida will take you on a virtual tour of her writing shed, chat what inspires her work, give yoy an exclusive look at her sketchbooks and take an exclusive peek at what she is currently writing.

You can bid here.

There are of course various t&c including: children to be accompanied on the call by an adult; date and time subject to mutual availability; prize to be claimed by 1 December 2021.

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Inside Cressida Cowell's shed

Writer Cressida Cowell is excellent at keeping us updated with photos of her path to her garden office throughout the year and also regularly records videos inside her writing shed, but here's a treat, a close-up of her writing desk. Note the lucky horseshoe.

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Cressida Cowell's path to her writing shed

One of our favourite ongoing series of garden office postings are the tweets by novelist Cressida Cowell of the path to her writing shed throughout the year. Above is what it looks like this week, below the same time last year. You can see all her path posts here.

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Cressida Cowell's path to the writing shed in June

Regular readers will have enjoyed the regular updates of the path to her garden shed of children's novelist, current Children's Laureate, and contributor to my latest book,  Cressida Cowell. For those new to the ongoing series, Cressida takes photos of the path to her writing shed garden office almost every month throughout the year. Pictured above is this month's late June example (see what it looked like for example in February, May and October last year).

And as a bonus, here is Felicite-Perpetue rambling over Monty Don's writing shed.

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A tour of Cressida Cowell's writing shed

Arguably the most famous current shedworking writer, Cressida Cowell's garden office pops up quite frequently on Shedworking. Thanks to encouragement of Uncle Wilco, she has now 'shared her shed' via a video, guiding us around her working space. She and her shed also appeared this week on a special Pyjamarama interview via the Book Trust. ---------------------------------------

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Cressida Cowell's path to the writing shed in April

Children's novelist, current Children's Laureate, and contributor to my latest book,  Cressida Cowell is a daily shedworker. She also takes photos of the path to her writing shed garden office throughout the year. Pictured above is this month's late April entry and you can see what it looked like for example in February, May and October last year at the links or by searching the site.

And just a reminder that she is also reading her How To Train Your Dragon series out loud throughout lockdown, all from her garden office writing shed, as part of the BookTrust's new digital hub for families and children, Home Time. She is currently deep into book two. Catch all of the videos on her YouTube page.


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How To Give Your Child A Lifelong Love Of Reading published today

My latest book, published by The British Library, is out today - although I've written it, there are also lots of mini-essays from famous children's writers such as Michael Rosen, Jacqueline Wilson, and Abi Elphinstone. It also features reading lists by age and subject from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE). Available online from your local indie bookseller as well as from the usual suspects. Here's the official bumph:

Full of age-appropriate reading suggestions and ideas to encourage tricky readers, discover how to instill one of life’s greatest skills: curiosity and a lifelong love of learning. Complete with dedicated contributions from Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, Abi Elphinstone, Cressida Cowell, Hollie McNish, Ken Wilson-Max and Julia Eccleshare, this title taps into an increasing concern about anti-screen activities and return to traditional forms of creative thinking.

How do you create an active reader? Why is reading good for creativity? Why is it vital for teaching the next generation resilience and positive mental health?

In the digital age of never-ending screen time you could argue that the power of books has diminished. But while screens have changed the act of reading, Alex Johnson believes reading is even more important, and that people value books more than ever. This is visible in the sales of printed special editions, the revival in reading aloud, the increased interest in poetry anthologies and the rescuing of ‘lost words’ from obscurity.

But the problem is: with so many competing distractions, which are the best books for children to read and how can we access them? How do we get children to start reading? And how can we encourage them to be curious? How can we encourage their reading and maintain their interest? In this book of practical advice, Alex Johnson brings his tremendous enthusiasm and informed passion to answer these questions, and many more, to ensure a new generation of bookworms are whisked away to new worlds and essential discoveries.

Cressida Cowell reads How to Train Your Dragon from her garden office

Shedworker and Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell has featured frequently on Shedworking, and here she is doing her bit as we go into coronavirus lockdown with a jolly chat and a reading of the prologue from How To Train Your Dragon, all done from her garden office writing shed. It's all part of the launch of BookTrust's new digital hub for families and children, Home Time.

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Cressida Cowell's path to the writing shed in February

Path to the writing shed, early morning, February pic.twitter.com/E2h1Ex5G17

— Cressida Cowell (@CressidaCowell) February 4, 2020

Children's novelist and the current Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell is a keen shedworker. She also regularly posts photos of the path to her writing shed garden office throughout the year. Pictured above is this month's February entry and you can see what it looked like in February, May and October last year at the links. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Cressida Cowell's path to her writing shed

Children's novelist and the current Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell is a keen shedworker. She also regularly posts photos of the path to her writing shed garden office throughout the year. Pictured above is the October entry and you can see what it looked like in February and May here.

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Cressida Cowell's path to the writing shed in May

The path to the writing shed, May pic.twitter.com/FUfzG7LHGV

— Cressida Cowell (@CressidaCowell) May 13, 2019

You can find out more about novelist Cressida Cowell and her shedworking story here, including what her path looks like in February. -------------------------------------------------
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Cressida Cowell's holiday writing shed

My writing shed in France has a banana tree growing through the window pic.twitter.com/XlTO3upH7y

— Cressida Cowell (@CressidaCowell) August 20, 2018

Not too shabby. ------------------------------------------

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Cressida Cowell's writing shed path

Path to the writing shed, February pic.twitter.com/1bXd4XyvRT

— Cressida Cowell (@CressidaCowell) February 15, 2018

You can read more about Cressida Cowell's life as a shedworker here. -------------------------------------------------
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Cressida Cowell: Shedworker

 Cressida Cowell, the author of the hugely popular the How To Train Your Dragon books - and whose latest book The Wizards of Once has just come out - is also a shedworker. Indeed, she wrote all 12 of the Dragon books in her writing shed.

There's no internet and no telephone in her leafy London location where she told the BBC she is "buried in greenness and I can't really see the outside world". And she told the Telegraph:

My shed is so covered in roses that you can barely see out and I’m forced in on my own world, which is important. I also have a sofa to curl up on when I need inspiration. As a child I did all my homework in bed, so I think I associate a comfortable space with creativity. I have my own shed kettle too, so I can make endless cups of rooibos tea without trooping back to the house.

Here she talks us through the delights of shedworking.

The path to the writing shed today is a path of rain pic.twitter.com/BxcBEUW91y

— Cressida Cowell (@CressidaCowell) September 16, 2016

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