Once upon a time, I was a primary school teacher! After 28 years in a wonderful school in Hong Kong, I retired in 2004 and 'migrated' with my husband to Italy. This set me thinking about migration and animals that cover huge distances every year. With the help of my good friend Google, I discovered lots of interesting facts about migration: which animals go where, how they find their way and which routes they take. Suddenly, BING! an idea popped into my head! What if an animal wanted to send a message to a relative thousands of miles away? Perhaps he could ask for help from the migrating animals. That was how it all began. My first book was Patrick's Birthday Message and since publishing it, I have learned many more amazing facts about animals that have inspired me to write eight more books!

As well as writing, illustrating and publishing my books I love visiting schools, talking to children, and sharing my stories with them. I now spend my time in Italy, Phuket and England, but most years I also travel to Hong Kong and Kenya to see my family of four children and six grandchildren. Everywhere I go my favourite hobby is visiting schools whether they are huge international campuses with thousands of children in Hong Kong, Phuket and Bangkok, or tiny village schools in Kenya and England. Patrick the Parrot loves to travel too and these days his friends Cosmos the Whale, Chameleon, Jed the Hammerhead Shark and of course Great-Grandpa Gilbert all come along with him.