Lady Flora Mary McDonnell (born 7 November 1963), also known by her married name Flora Pennybacker, is an artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

, illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

, and prize-winning author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of children's books.

Family

The eldest child of the 9th Earl of Antrim

Alexander Randal Mark McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim

Alexander Randal Mark McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim is the son of the late Randal John Somerled McDonnell, 8th Earl of Antrim . As the heir to his father's titles, he was styled Viscount Dunluce from his birth until 1977...

 and Sarah Elizabeth Anne Harmsworth, now Mrs Oliver Gates, Flora McDonnell is sister to Lady Alice McDonnell

Lady Alice McDonnell

Lady Alice Angela Jane McDonnell , married name Lady Alice Gwinn, is an Anglo-Irish aristocrat.-Education:Lady Alice was educated at St Mary's Convent, Shaftesbury; Gresham's School, Holt; and St Hilda's College, Oxford .-Family:The daughter of Alexander Randal Mark McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim...

 and Viscount Dunluce

Randal Alexander St John McDonnell, Viscount Dunluce

Randal Alexander St John McDonnell, Viscount Dunluce is the son and heir of the Earl of Antrim in the Peerage of Ireland. As the heir apparent to his father's titles, he uses the courtesy title Viscount Dunluce....

.

Marriage

On 30 April 2003, she married Dr Thomas Rupert Blaise Pennybacker; they have one son, Sorley Joseph Pennybacker (b. 8 December 2004).

Education

Flora McDonnell was educated at St Mary's Shaftesbury

St Mary's Shaftesbury

St Mary’s School, located in a rural setting near Shaftesbury, Dorset, England, is a Catholic boarding and day school which welcomes girls from all Christian denominations. Its mission is "to educate each individual to the highest standard through fostering traditional values in the spirit of the...

, Gresham's School

Gresham's School

Gresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...

 and Exeter College

Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...

, Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

.

Children's Books by Flora McDonnell

• I Love Animals (Walker Books, 1994) ISBN 978-0744543926
• I Love Boats (Walker Books, 1996) ISBN 978-0744543735
• Flora McDonnell's ABC (Walker Books, 1998) ISBN 978-0744560077
• Splash! (Candlewick Books, 1999) ISBN 076360481X
• The Mermaid's Purse [poems by Ted Hughes
  Ted Hughes
  Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
  
  , illustrated by Flora McDonnell] (Knopf Books, 2000) ISBN 978-0375905698
• The Cat and the Cuckoo [by Ted Hughes
  Ted Hughes
  Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
  
  , illustrated by Flora McDonnell] (Roaring Brook Press, 2003) ISBN 978-0761315483
• Sparky (Candlewick Books, 2004) ISBN 978-0763622084
• Giddy up! Let's Ride! (New Line Books, 2006) ISBN 978-1597642149

Other publications

• Threads of Hope [ed. Flora McDonnell] (Short Books, 2003) ISBN 978-1904095354