Margaret – Illustrator & Co-Creator
At 86 years young, Margaret is the talented illustrator and co-creator of Pink Patsy the Adventurous Hare. The very first image she ever painted was of Pink Patsy gazing up at the moon—a magical moment that sparked a whole world of stories, adventures and imagination.
Margaret and her daughter Wendy love storytelling together. They spend hours bouncing ideas off one another, creating new adventures, woodland friends and magical moments before Wendy turns them into stories and Margaret brings them to life through her beautiful illustrations. Together they have created ten Pink Patsy books, with many more adventures still to come.
Margaret believes every picture tells a story. Through her colourful illustrations, she encourages children to get creative, use their imagination and discover the beauty of the natural world. From woodland adventures to colourful flowers, animals and magical landscapes, her artwork inspires young minds to explore, create and fall in love with nature.
Together, Margaret and Wendy hope to encourage children to read, imagine, paint, create and believe in themselves—one Pink Patsy adventure at a time.
Wendy – Author, Publisher & Creative Director
Wendy Gallagher is the author, publisher and creative director behind Pink Patsy the Adventurous Hare and the founder of Magmay Books. She writes every Pink Patsy story, edits and publishes each book, designs the layouts and brings the magical world of Pink Patsy to life through storytelling, creative events and live experiences.
Inspired by nature and the wonderful ideas she shares with her mum, Margaret, Wendy loves walking outdoors where many of the Pink Patsy adventures begin. Together they spend hours bouncing story ideas off one another, creating new woodland friends, magical adventures and exciting tales before Wendy transforms them into stories and Margaret brings them to life with her beautiful illustrations.
Being dyslexic herself, Wendy understands that every child learns in their own unique way. She is passionate about encouraging children to discover confidence through creativity, believing that reading, writing, art, music and imaginative play can work together to inspire a lifelong love of learning. Alongside writing and publishing books, Wendy creates creative workshops, school visits, library events and family experiences that celebrate imagination and encourage children to believe in themselves.
Through Magmay Books, Wendy hopes to encourage children to read, create, explore nature and believe in themselves, because every achievement begins with a dream, grows through creativity and flourishes with confidence and self-belief.
Jake Eiseman-Renyard has been working with puppets since 2014, including four years volunteering with Chicken Shed Theatre. He loves bringing characters to life and enjoys the challenge of performing both male and female voices, as well as a whole range of animal characters. Jake also enjoys making puppets and props from unwanted toys, giving them a new lease of life through creativity and imagination.
Wendy first met Jake at the Cherry Tree Woods Café in East Finchley. After watching one of his puppet shows, she realised her Pink Patsy stories could become a live puppet production. Inspired by Jake’s performance and puppetry skills, she began creating the Pink Patsy Puppet Show, with Jake becoming the voice of Pink Patsy and an important part of the creative team.
Jake is also the voice of the lovable Tiger the Cat in the upcoming Pink Patsy animation, helping bring Pink Patsy, Tiger and their friends to life on screen as well as on stage. Alongside his work with Pink Patsy, he is developing his own filmed puppet productions, including One Planet Future, based on a musical written for the World Wildlife Fund, and Duck Whittington, an animal pantomime created to raise funds for The Whittington Hospital.
Jake believes puppetry has the power to inspire imagination, laughter and creativity, helping audiences of all ages discover the magic that can be found in bringing stories and characters to life.
Pink Patsy – The Puppet
Pink Patsy first came to life in Margaret’s illustrations before Wendy turned her adventures into a growing collection of children’s books. As the stories became more popular, Wendy dreamed of bringing Pink Patsy to life on stage, so she wrote her first puppet show script, Pink Patsy Rainbow, based on Pink Patsy and the Rainbow. It was a completely new creative adventure and the beginning of the Pink Patsy Puppet Show.
The very first performances were created on a small budget using handmade scenery and props. Kimber lovingly made an early Pink Patsy puppet from one of the Pink Patsy teddy bears, allowing the team to test the show and begin sharing the stories with children. The response was so encouraging that Wendy applied to Haringey Giving for funding to help develop the production further.
Thanks to a successful community grant from Haringey Giving, the Pink Patsy Puppet Show was transformed with improved scenery, professionally made props and a beautiful Pink Patsy puppet handcrafted by talented puppet maker Pauly Saucil, who carefully brought Margaret’s original illustrations to life for the stage.
Today, Pink Patsy stars in books, puppet shows, school visits, libraries, festivals and family events, with animation and many more adventures already in development. Through every performance she encourages children to explore nature, use their imagination, get creative and believe in themselves—because every great achievement begins with a dream.