Children's Laureate Cressida Cowell on leaving a legacy

"Little did I imagine quite what challenges we would face over the course of my tenure—but it is when times are hardest that we need the transformative magic of books and reading the most,” author-illustrator Cressida Cowell MBE tells me as she reflects on her time as Waterstones Children’s Laureate. 

Originally taking up the post in 2019, her two-year stint was extended for an extra year after the pandemic hit. Her flagship campaign during this time has been Life-changing Libraries, launched in partnership with BookTrust in April 2021 to showcase the transformative impact a well-resourced primary school library has on a child’s opportunities. Over the course of a year, six primary schools across England where at least 25% of pupils are eligible for free school meals were helped to develop a culture of reading for pleasure. BookTrust created a bespoke, dedicated library space in each school that was stocked with a book list of approximately 1,000 carefully curated titles. Staff were also given access to training and mentoring from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education and the School Library Association. 

A report on the project has just been published, with the key findings in it describing a transformation in attitudes towards reading, with passion for books ignited among the students and a considerable uptake in the time spent engaged in reading for pleasure both at school and at home. Teachers have reported increased attention, engagement and motivation to learn among students in the classroom, alongside a significant improvement in the wellbeing of both children and staff, as well as a boosted sense of pride, confidence and self-worth. 

Positive impact

Cowell says of the findings: “The positive impact has been extraordinary, and this extends far beyond the library doors: the entire school ecosystem, encouraging teachers, parents, students, as well as the wider community.” She adds that it has been “incredible to see just how much difference a ‘gold standard’ library has made in just one year”, citing the example of Woodchurch CE Primary in Wirral, where the number of pupils with special educational needs making expected academic progress hit a record 90% in the autumn term. She also highlights that these libraries have “provided a special space for students to find ‘shelter’, to relax, to regulate”, something she considers particularly important now as “the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on children’s mental health”. 

I believe every child in this country should have the opportunity of becoming a reader for pleasure and should have access to the life-changing benefit of books

When she launched the initiative, Cowell also penned an open letter to the Prime Minister asking the government to improve primary school library provision with a ringfenced, yearly investment of £100m, which was supported by former Children’s Laureates, literacy organisations, and publishing industry leaders. She reiterates now: “Millions of children are missing out on the life-changing benefits of reading for pleasure because their school does not have a library. This chronic problem of inequality of library provision and therefore access to books—left unsolved for too many years—is now a crisis. This is a social mobility time-bomb and we must take action now.” 

Cowell always wanted to “tackle big problems” during her time as the Children’s Laureate. “Every point I set out in my Children’s Laureate Charter highlights a challenging, complex issue,” she says, “but it was important to me to be ambitious, and to say publicly, and as loudly as possible, that I believe every child in this country should have the opportunity of becoming a reader for pleasure and should have access to the life-changing benefit of books.” Considering what her legacy as Children’s Laureate might be, she tells me: “When I was appointed, I spoke about being a Laureate who fights for books and children’s interests with passion, conviction and action. I spoke about the urgent necessity of ensuring every single child in this country has access to books. Practical magic, empathy and creative intelligence, was my plan… I hope that I have started practical initiatives that have contributed positively to children’s lives, and have helped the book trade, at a particularly difficult time.”

In addition to Life-Changing Libraries, these initiatives included a Creativity Summer Camp, an online programme of masterclasses, readings and workshops from authors and illustrators, and #PassThePen, a social media campaign designed to promote emerging children’s authors and illustrators of colour. These projects were some of the highlights of Cowell’s tenure, as were her visits to the schools that participated in Life-Changing Libraries. “To see the transformative effect these libraries have had on their entire school communities in such a short amount of time has been incredibly touching,” she says. 

Alongside the highlights, there were “numerous” challenges for the Children’s Laureate over the past three years. She shares: “I had to set up my own YouTube channel to try and help support parents at home doing home-schooling, with writing and drawing competitions and reading aloud, and BookTrust’s HomeTime initiative. Reading the entire How to Train Your Dragon series online has taken me rather longer than I thought (I still haven’t quite finished yet!). And quite apart from all that, everything we had organised had to be entirely re-planned in March 2020. And re-planned again, several times after, alongside writing and illustrating and editing my new book series.”

This new series, Which Way to Anywhere, which she began writing 25 years ago, was unveiled last month. Cowell describes it as “an out-of-this-world new adventure series about a thoroughly modern magic, unlikely heroes, the meaning of family and how those who seem like they’re worlds apart might just be more similar than they think”. It is inspired by her childhood drawings of imaginary worlds and asks what would happen if those worlds were real and there was a child who had the gift of showing the crossing points between them. The first instalment will be published by Hachette Children’s Group on 15th September.

While she deems her laureateship as “a career highlight in so many ways” and an experience that she has “absolutely loved”, Cowell is clear that it is “only one step” of her quest to make books and reading available to every child. Going forward, she will work with The Primary School Library Alliance and support the Great School Libraries Campaign to try to achieve this goal. She concludes: “It has been an absolute honour to be the Children’s Laureate in an extraordinary period when books have been more important than ever to us all… I hope I have been a joyful, positive voice in a difficult time.”