'I've always wanted to go to sea,' said the goat to the duck, 'just you and me.'

So they sailed away, starting the day in a shabby old boat, with a bale of hay.

The charming goat and the unflappable duck, and the many friends they meet along the way, will enchant you with their adventures.

 

Rachel Flynn Rachel Flynn was born in Bacchus Marsh on her parents eleventh wedding anniversary. Her mother always told her that she was the best present she ever received. At three years old Rachel was one of the first students at the new kindergarten, then attended Bacchus Marsh Primary School and High School. At 17 she went to Ballarat to train as a teacher, and taught in primary schools in Melbourne before having two children. Since then she has written several books for children and studied for two degrees, a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education. She currently teaches at the Council of Adult Education (Melbourne) in the Professional Writing and Editing course. The two children have grown up and both attend RMIT University in Melbourne . After years of wondering who would give away a baby as an anniversary present, Rachel finally asked her mother and found out that she hadn t literally been a present at all, just a surprise.

One of Rachel s earliest memories is of her mother patiently putting her to bed, over and over again, and singing her to sleep. At kindergarten she remembers drawing a picture of a mother with a baby in a pram which was put on display in a shop window for Education Week. Perhaps these two memories are evident in My Mummy and Me .

Rachel Flynn is well known for her hugely successful I Hate Fridays series including I Hate Fridays, It s Not Fair, Worried Sick, I Can't Wait and Messing Around. Some of these books have been shortlisted for several awards chosen by children themselves. The companion picture books My Mummy and Me and My Daddy and Me (illustrated by Craig Smith) were published in 1998, Sacked illustrated by Craig Smith 2000, and Whisper Wild, Freedom Child (illustrated by Anna Pignataro)in 2000. The Goat, the Duck and the Bale of Hay (illustrated by Tom Jellett) and < Third>were both published in 2004. Rachel has also written books in the Aussie Nibbles and Aussie Chomps series.

Check out Rachel's web site at http://www.rachelflynn.com.au .