At age sixteen Janeen Brian trained as a primary teacher and at eighteen stood in front of her first class of year five students. Her teaching career saw her work in junior primary, primary, drama and as a teacher-librarian.

While raising a family, she began a four-year career with a professional children’s theatre company, both acting and writing. She has also been involved in over 100 television and radio commercials as well as dozens of voiceovers for radio and video. She began dabbling in writing in her thirties.

Since then she has written over 100 books both in trade and education, and in genres ranging from picture books to poetry, short fiction, nonfiction and novels. Janeen is an award-winning author and poet and many of her books have been translated and published overseas.

Over 35 years, Ann James has collaborated with many authors, illustrating picture books that almost always feature animals! In fact, her own pets are characters in The Midnight Gang; Dog In, Cat Out; The Way I Love You and Chester and Gil.

Ann's playful approach to illustrating is evident in her choice of media and techniques. Some of her memorable picture-book characters are in Lucy Goosey; I'm a Dirty Dinosaur; I'm a Hungry Dinosaur; Bird and Bear and Bird and Bear and the Special Day.

She looks forward to readers getting to know Samantha and Sebastian in A Very Quacky Christmas! Ann lives in Melbourne, where she and her partner run Books Illustrated, a gallery specialising in promoting picture books and their creators.