Avis Wilkins was born in 1939. She grew up on a Mallee farm in Victoria, Australia, as the third eldest of ten children. She left school at the age of fourteen to help her mother, and one of her responsibilities was putting the youngest children to bed, which marked the beginning of her storytelling. After her mother brought home baby chickens, Avis's stories started to focus on three little chickens named Chickadee Chalk, Chickadee Chops, and Chickadee Cheryl. These stories continued into her own motherhood and again for her grandchildren. In the early '90s, Avis decided to write down a few of her stories. Now, with the help of her grandson, she hopes to share her stories about the three chickadee chickens with the world.