Josephine Coker

Jo Coker grew up in England during the second world war in a large village surrounded by open countryside. She worked as a florist and teacher of flower arranging for many years and continues to be an avid gardener.

When her grandchildren moved to Hong Kong, she worried they would forget about the English countryside and so started writing tales about an amiable mouse living under her garden shed. She hoped these countryside adventures would provide her grandchildren with a connection to her rural home and encourage a love of reading.

20 years later, her daughter surprised her with a secretly published collection of these stories. The Adventures of Henry the Field Mouse stretched to two books once the illustrations were added, and became a trilogy when Jo wrote more countryside adventures for Henry in her 80s.

When Jo is not searching the local garden centres for a new plant, she is usually reading or busy knitting. Current projects include toys and blankets for local charities as well as cute little mice to accompany her books.