The Author

Kay Rayner
Hi everyone, My name is Kay Rayner (nee Parrish). I was born in Ashburton and I have an older brother. I was educated in Hinds, Tinwald and Ashburton. My first job was a cadet reporter with the Ashburton Guardian. After moving to Auckland with my parents at the age of 17, I worked in the Henderson telephone exchange. After that I became a qualified hairdresser. A few years later I spent a few months working in Australia.

When I returned to New Zealand I worked for the New Zealand Herald. This is where I met my future husband Edward. Edward and I have three children, Antonia, Jarrod and Chantal and we have two grandchildren, Connor and Brooke.

I have always wanted to write children’s books and I hope that the two books I have written will be only the start of many. I hope the reader enjoys them as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I also want to thank Jonathon for his wonderful illustrations. He has made my book come to life. Inspiration: As a very small child I had a very vivid imagination.

The inspiration for the books came from my childhood spent in my grandparent’s garden. My imagination came to life as I played. Now I am a mother and grandmother I have allowed my imagination to become free again and live in the magical world of The Pipsies. I want to give children who read these books the opportunity to be able to dream and have fun with their ideas as I did as a child. I wanted to write the kinds of books that I read to my children when they were young; picture books that grabbed the imagination and encouraged the reader to ‘make believe’.

We all need a little magic in our lives.
Kay.

The Illustrator
Jonathon Rayner-Burt
I have really enjoyed the experience of illustrating The Pipsies. I'm getting back into illustrating after a long hiatus since University. I have always enjoying drawing, cartooning and other forms of illustrating. From time to time I take up the brush and turn my hand to acrylics on canvas but I'm most at home with either a plain black biro or tablet stylus colouring my work on the computer.

I graduated with a degree in Design from the University of Otago in 2000. Since then I have helped produce educational posters and interactive CDs, and in 2006 moved into the field of filmmaking, producing the digital feature comedy SLOVENIA AFTER SIX.

I hope you enjoy the visual style of the Pipsies. It reminds me a lot of the books my grandmother read to me when I was a child.

Jonathon

Chantal Rayner-Burt
Chantal Rayner-Burt designed the original Pipsie creatures plus makes contributions in the field of editing and story ideas. In 2006 she wrote and directed her first film SLOVENIA AFTER SIX, a digital feature comedy.

Self-publishing
We recommend contacting Copy Press if you are interested in publishing your own book. The friendly staff are very helpful and knowledgable and will guide you through the self-publishing process.