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Paddy Donnelly

Paddy Donnelly is an Irish illustrator now living in Belgium. He has over 15 years experience as an illustrator and designer, and especially loves working with a textured, painterly approach. With a fondness for illustrating the sea and animals, Paddy tries to inject a touch of humour to his work wherever he can. Coming from a graphic design background, Paddy is comfortable working in different illustration styles depending on the needs of the project. He wishes Pluto was still a planet.

Paddy Donnelly is represented by Arabella Stein — to work with Paddy please email Arabella

Reviews

"A brilliant example of what a picture book should be doing." – Elaina Ryan, CEO Children's Books Ireland: Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland, speaking about ‘Here Be Dragons’, illustrated by Paddy Donnelly, written by Susannah Lloyd, published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.

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'A warm, humorous and highly engaging celebration of love...' - KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards Judges comments: “When Scúnc finds his missing Teddy, he is dismayed to discover that its special smell has been eradicated by a spell in the washing machine. After much searching and sniffing, Scúnc makes the happy discovery that Teddy’s smell came from his mother’s hugs, so lots of hugging of Teddy will be required for the comforting smell to be regained. It is unusual to feature skunks as main characters in a picturebook and much is made in the illustrations of their comic indifference to the repulsion that their odour arouses in other animal characters trying to give them a wide berth. A warm, humorous and highly engaging celebration of love between mother and child.”

Judges’ comments for the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards shortlist 2019.

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'Paddy Donnelly brings life to Skunk's world with a rich and glossy palette' - The Irish Times: ‘Illustrator Paddy Donnelly brings life to Skunk’s world with a rich and glossy palette that makes space for individual scents marks for the stinky characters too.’ - The Irish Times review of Scúnc agus Smúirín

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'Full-page illustrations have a dynamic, painterly quality' - BookTrust Review: ‘The vibrant, full-page illustrations have a dynamic, painterly quality and successfully evoke the wildness and beauty of the coast, bringing the text to life.’ - BookTrust review.

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Awards

Gold Medal Award - Independent Publisher Book Awards: Paddy Donnelly won The Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal Award for their book ‘The Vanishing Lake’, published by Yeehoo Press.
The Best Children's Books 2020 - The Annual China Children's Booklist: ‘The Vanishing Lake’ was chosen as one of The Best Children’s Books 2020 by The Annual China Children’s Booklist ‘The Vanishing Lake. Author-illustrated by Paddy Donnelly, published by Yeehoo Press.
KPMG Award - Shortlisted: Shortlisted for the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2021 with “Míp”, written by Máire Zepf, published by Futa Fata.
Gradam Réics Carló Children's Irish Language Book of the Year - Shortlisted: Shortlisted for the Gradam Réics Carló Children’s Irish Language Book of the Year with two books; ‘Scúnc Agus Smúirín’ written by Muireann Ni Chiobhain, and ‘Míp’ written by Maire Zepf, both published by Futa Fata.

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Waterstones' Book of the Month - June 2020: Cover art for ‘Wonderscape’ by Jennifer Bell, published by Walker Books selected as the Waterstones’ Children Book of the Month for June

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KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2019- Shortlisted: ‘SCÚNC AGUS SMÚIRÍN’, written by Muireann Ní Chíobháinm, published by Futa Fata, shortlisted for the 2019 KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards.

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World Illustration Awards 2018 — Nominated.: World Illustration Awards 2018 — Nominated. An award by The Association of Illustrators.

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