Rachel & Nadja

Who am I?

Hello! My name is Rachel Schmidlechner. I’m the author of “Read and Rhyme with Brown Owl”, a series of rhyming books for children. I also create accompanying teaching resources for educators.

I have been teaching English at a primary school in Austria for 15 years and created the books based on my teaching experiences.

Where am I from?

I grew up in Devon, England and since 2006 I have been living in a beautiful part of the Danube valley called the Wachau in Austria with my husband and three children.

What do I do?

I studied foreign languages (German/French/Spanish) in Sheffield and was awarded my BA honours degree in 2002. I then spent two years working as an English Language Assistant in Germany and Austria, helping students learn English as a second language. After that, I went back to England and completed my teacher training for German and French. I taught at a comprehensive school in England but then decided to move to Austria in 2006 to be with my husband.

I have been teaching English at a primary school in Krems, Austria ever since. As a native speaker, I have also worked at various kindergartens, introducing children to English at an early age, and I have taught English to adults.

I loved creating little rhymes as a child and now I really enjoy reading aloud to my own children. I created these books because I want to motivate children to read. I want to make English more accessible and enjoyable to young learners and help teachers plan multi-sensory and interesting English lessons.

Who am I?

Hello! I’m Nadja Grace Bodner. I’m the illustrator of the rhyming picture books “Read and Rhyme with Brown Owl”. I drew all the illustrations to create an exciting visual adventure and I also illustrate the English rhymes, sayings and chants that we share on Instagram.

Where am I from?

I grew up in Lower Austria. My mother is from England and my father is Austrian, so I grew up bilingually. I have always loved reading, both in English and German, ever since I was a child.

What do I do?

I discovered that I had quite a talent for drawing and painting at a young age. I must have inherited it from my British grandfather, who was an artist himself, and from my parents who are both good at drawing, too.

I finished my studies of graphics and communication design at Die Graphische in Vienna in 2017. In 2018, I then did a course on designing and illustrating books for children, which I really enjoyed. I now work as a freelance illustrator and have illustrated several story books for various clients, including some for the Viennese publisher Obelisk.