A CHILDREN’S author best known for her How to Train a Dragon book series spoke to pupils in Kennington.

Cressida Cowell captivated a young audience with tales of Vikings, wizards and warriors at during a visit to Chandlings School.

The author visited the independent primary school and nursery last week, as part of a national tour promoting her most recent children’s book The Wizards of Once.

She spoke to 300 pupils last week at a talk organised by Chandlings, in partnership with Mostly Books shop in Abingdon, which the school has a close relationship with.

Pupils from nearby Cothill House school and Dry Sandford Primary School near Abingdon were also invited to the talk, as well as those from Cokethorpe School in Hardwick near Witney.

Chandlings headteacher Christine Cook said: “We are privileged to be able to have authors such as Cressida Cowell come and talk to our children.

“The library is an integral part of school life and all the children from nursery right up to Year 6 have weekly visits to it.

“We get to know the children and what type of books they enjoy.

“Several of the older ones already enjoy How to Train your Dragon and I know they will love Wizards of Once.”

Children were advised by the speaker not to worry too much about spelling or neatness, but just to use their imagination.

She told them books were about ‘creative solutions’ and ‘like telling a big detailed lie’.

Many children were familiar with her hit book series, which was adapted for cinema by DreamWorks Animation and went on to win several awards.

The talk started with an extract from the film then Mrs Cowell discussed how she first started her career, writing from the age of nine.