Joanne Dell lives with her husband James and 3 daughters in a small village in Buckinghamshire, England, where they breed alpacas and rare breed sheep and pigs. Jo and her family chose rural living as a total change from their previous lifestyle, with no background in farming whatsoever! They designed and built an eco off-grid farmhouse and created Abbotts View Farm from 22 acres of grass. Then followed a steep learning curve as they got to grips with breeding and rearing alpacas, sheep and pigs, pygmy goats, ducks, guinea pigs and rabbits. And their RSPCA rescue pony! Though not an open farm, they welcome private visits and Jo was inspired to write this story after observing how children sometimes arrived feeling cautious and anxious of meeting the animals, and left with a smile on their faces and a sense of achievement from touching or feeding them.