Jill McDonald


Jill Masefield McDonald was a New-Zealand-born children's writer and illustrator, working in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. Much of her work was done for Puffin Books, the children's imprint of Penguin, and for its club's magazine Puffin Post.

Life

She was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1927. Her father was Reginald Bedford Hammond, a distant cousin of John Masefield. She initially trained as an architect, but turned to illustration following her marriage, becoming art editor of the New Zealand School Journal.
In 1965 she moved to England with her two children. There she worked for Puffin Books, the children's imprint of Penguin. Much of her work was on Puffin Post, the members' magazine of the Puffin Club, launched in 1967, whose visual style she shaped. In addition to the cover designs, her contributions included a regular column in which Odway, a philosophical dog, invited responses from readers. In McDonald's Times obituary, Kaye Webb, the editor of Puffin Books wrote of her work:
everyone who knows it has been captivated not only by her brilliant use of colour and unique style, but the way each sure, strong line seems to impose a very individual and secret humour.

She was the author of twelve picture books for children.
She died in London on 2 January 1982.

Selected works

As writer and illustrator