Meet the author
Ella Shine is the author of Pet Sitters, but… surprise! She’s not actually real. Sorry, readers, if that’s disappointing! In fact, she’s two writers, Penny Reeve and Cecily Paterson, both from Sydney, Australia.
When Penny and Cecily came up with the idea for the Pet Sitters stories, they thought putting both their names on the book covers would take up too much space. So they invented the ‘pen name’ Ella Shine. They think it’s an easy name to remember.
Meet the (real) authors
Penny Reeve is the author of more than 20 books for kids and young adults. She also writes as Penny Jaye. When Penny was little she had pet guinea pigs, chickens, a baby kangaroo, a turtle, ducks and a blue tongue lizard named Friendly.
“My favourite part of writing the Pet Sitters stories was being able to imagine all sorts of funny and crazy situations that I wish could happen in real life. Like having a pet who could talk to you, wouldn’t that be fun? Or a guinea pig that turns invisible, but only sometimes. I sometimes have so many ideas I think I’ll never run out of stories to write!
Writing these stories with a friend has been super fun too! It was something new for me. All my other books I’ve written by myself. But for these books I was able to share ideas, create fun characters and plan the chapters with a friend. I’ve loved it!
Maybe you could write a story with one of your BFFs too. I bet you’ll have as much fun as we did!”
Cecily Paterson has written eight novels for girls 11-14. She likes to read and sew and play the cello. When she was little she thought that all cats were girls and all dogs were boys. (Gus would definitely not approve of this idea.)
“I loved creating the main characters in the Pet Sitters series. A lot of the ideas for them came from real life. I have friends who have twins, just like Lina’s little brother and sister. And Cassie is based on a real girl who really does love to make everything pretty.
Neither Penny or I have a cat so we had fun looking at cat videos and seeing what silly things they get up to. (Also, it’s very fun to write grumpy characters sometimes.)
It has been great to write with Penny. She has a fantastic imagination. When we found Lisa, we both fell in love with her amazing drawings, and Suzanne has brought just the right voice to Gus and his friends. If you can find the right friend to be creative with, you can do more than you can on your own.
Meet the Illustrator
Lisa Flanagan has illustrated over a dozen books for children of all ages. She loves being creative and exploring outside. When she was little, Lisa had a budgie that couldn't fly but walked on the floor like a person. You needed to be very careful where you stepped!
“Drawing the pictures for Pet Sitters has been a great adventure. I never could have dreamed I would get to draw pictures for such a fun and exciting story. Magical animals and all!
I have especially enjoyed working with Penny and Cecily. They have so many wonderful ideas and like to dream big. A bit like Cassie and Lina.
One of the best parts of illustrating a book is giving everyone else a glimpse into how you imagine it. I really enjoyed creating Barefoot Springs and the people who live there. Don't you just love imagining what everything and everyone looks like?”
Meet the Narrator
Suzanne Ellis is the narrator of Pet Sitters. A Sydney voice actor, Suzanne says, “I love reading Lina, Cassie and Gus’s adventures and finding out what they get up to next!”
“Every birthday and Christmas I asked for a dog. I didn’t get a dog, but I had mice which I used to take everywhere snuggled in an open basket. I trained them to perform tricks for family and friends.”
