title: Flora McDonnell
text: # Flora McDonnell
  
  Flora Mary McDonnell, as the daughter of an Earl also known as Lady Flora McDonnell (born 7 November 1963) is an artist, illustrator, and prize-winning author of children's books.
  
  ## Early life
  
  McDonnell is the eldest daughter of Alexander McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim, the sister of the 10th Earl, and a niece of the artist Hector McDonnell.
  
  McDonnell was educated at St Mary's Shaftesbury, an independent Roman Catholic girls’ school Gresham's School, a mixed independent school in Norfolk, and Exeter College, Oxford, from 1982 to 1984, then at the City and Guilds of London Art School from 1984 to 1989.
  
  McDonnell began her children's book career in 1994 with publishing I Love Animals (1994). Since then, she has published many children's books and collaborated with authors and poets.
  
  She married Dr Thomas Pennybacker in 2003, and they have one son, born in 2004. She is currently based in London.
  
  ## Awards
  
  * The Mother Goose Award for first time published children's book illustrator (1995)
  
  ## Publications
  
  ### Children's books
  
  * I Love Animals (Walker Books, 1994) ISBN 978-0-7445-4392-6
  * I Love Boats (Walker Books, 1996) ISBN 978-0-7445-4373-5
  * Flora McDonnell's ABC (Walker Books, 1998) ISBN 978-0-7445-6007-7
  * Splash! (Candlewick Books, 1999) ISBN 0-7636-0481-X
  * The Mermaid's Purse [poems by Ted Hughes, illustrated by Flora McDonnell] (Knopf Books, 2000) ISBN 978-0-375-90569-8
  * The Cat and the Cuckoo [by Ted Hughes, illustrated by Flora McDonnell] (Roaring Brook Press, 2003) ISBN 978-0-7613-1548-3
  * Sparky (Candlewick Books, 2004) ISBN 978-0-7636-2208-4
  * Giddy up! Let's Ride! (New Line Books, 2006) ISBN 978-1-59764-214-9
  * Out of a Dark Winter's Night (Thames and Hudson, 2020) ISBN 978-0-500-65195-7
  
  ### Other
  
  * Threads of Hope [ed. Flora McDonnell] (Short Books, 2003) ISBN 978-1-904095-35-4
  