Jayneen (aka Jay Dale) is an experienced primary school teacher, editor, author and publisher.

She started her teaching career in the 1980s as an elementary school teacher in rural Queensland, Australia. She then moved to Victoria and taught at a number of inner-city schools.

In 1985, Jay had a change of career and became an educational editor and publisher.

In the early 90s, Jay and her partner moved to Japan to work as English teachers. They lived and worked in Japan for over three and a half years. In fact, Jay's first daughter was born there.

On returning to Australia, Jay began work as an educational author/packager. Since that time, she has authored and produced numerous award-winning titles for the educational publishing industry. Jay is also an accomplished children's book author, writing a number of titles for such literacy series as ZigZags, Totally Kidz, Deadly and Incredible, and a children's picture book series for Penguin.

During 2008 and 2009, Jay returned to teaching. That experience refreshed her understanding of issues facing children, teachers and parents.

She is currently working with an educational publisher as lead author of a new literacy series. Jay has written over 100 titles in that series.

More importantly, Jay is a mother of three teenage girls and has been a school councillor at her local primary school for over seven years. This time spent in primary schools both as a teacher and a parent inspired her to ask the question of her community: 'What are we doing in schools to protect our children from sexual interference?' When she realised very little was actually being done, she decided to use her authoring and publishing skills to write books to help parents, carers and teachers to broach the subject of self-protection and to encourage children to speak up.

Sofia is a Portuguese illustrator and designer who loves creating sweet characters full of personality amidst whimsical storytelling that features vibrant colors and a pinch (or two) of magic!

Her passion for illustration goes all the way back to her childhood years when her enthusiastic urge to create and doodle was nurtured by family and educators, mostly through drawing, painting and collage. Using a mix of both traditional and digital mediums, her colorful illustrations aim to be imaginative and spark joy. Besides illustrating for children’s books, she also creates colorful artwork for greeting cards, surface pattern and games (e.g. puzzles).

Sofia enjoys at home yoga and loves all things Christmas! She’s also a big foodie so in her spare time, chances are that you’ll find her in the kitchen doing a fair amount of cooking or baking.

She can be found on Instagram and Twitter at @sofiagcardosoo and online at sofiacardoso.com.