Veronica Colley was brought up in North London. As a child, she always wanted to be a teacher or a writer. She was married and had three daughters before she was able to realise her ambition to go to university and train to be a teacher. This coincided with her youngest daughter’s obsession with rescuing ‘abandoned’ animals.Veronica started regaling her class with the tales of her daughter’s pets. It began as just anecdotes to tell at story-time but she soon realised they were hanging on her every word and clamouring for the next instalment. She has only just left the school where she taught for twenty-one years, having delighted and engaged many classes with this ‘true-life’ story.