Shelley Burne-Field (S?moa, Ngati Mutunga, Ngati R?rua, P?keh?) is a kaituhituhi from Te Matau-a-M?ui Hawke's Bay. She writes articles and creative non-fiction as well as fiction of all sorts, including short stories. This is her first children's story. She is an alumni of the Master of Creative Writing from Auckland University 2020 and also Te Papa Tupu mentoring programme. Her story 'Speaking in Tongues' was the only New Zealand Finalist in the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Her work is now in print in anthologies around the world, and has appeared in Newsroom and on RNZ. Her story 'Pinching out Dahlias' is the most read short story published in Reading Room. Shelley is a proud member of the NZSA.