Annette Macarthur-Onslow

Annette Rosemary Macarthur-Onslow (born 21 March 1933)^[1] is an Australian author and book illustrator. She is best known for her 1969 book, Uhu, which won the CBCA Book of the Year in 1970.^[2]

Annette Macarthur-Onslow in 1954

Early life and education

Born on 21 March 1933, Macarthur-Onslow was the eldest daughter of Winifred Owen and Edward Macarthur-Onslow. She completed her secondary education at Frensham School, Mittagong, later attended by her siblings, Pamela (Harrison, 1936–2012) and Phoebe (Atkinson, 1939–2018).^[3] She then studied art at East Sydney Technical College.^[1]

Career

Macarthur-Onslow worked for a time in Sydney as a commercial artist. She also assisted Norman Hetherington with his puppets at department stores and, in 1957, live on ABC television.^[4][5] She left for London by sea in January 1958, planning to study puppetry there and in Europe.^[6] She continued her art studies while working for publishers, including Oxford University Press (OUP).^[1]

In the early 1960s Macarthur-Onslow began illustrating children's books for Australian and British authors. Gwen Hutchings wrote of her work in Sheena Porter's Nordy Bank that "the fine line drawings by Annette Macarthur-Onslow at times show exquisite detail, while others are shadowy and impressionistic".^[7] The book won the 1965 Carnegie Medal,^[8] while Hesba Brimsmead's Pastures of the Blue Crane which she illustrated for OUP won that year's CBCA Book of the Year.^[8] Uhu, which she wrote and illustrated, won the CBCA Book of the Year in 1970.^[2] It is the story of a small tawny owl in the Gloucestershire countryside.^[2]

Macarthur-Onslow was the first author/illustrator to represent Australia at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava in 1971, where she was awarded a Diplome d'Honneur for Uhu and Minnie.^[1]

Selected publications

As author/illustrator

• Uhu, Ure Smith, 1969
• Minnie, Ure Smith, 1971
• Round House, Collins, 1975
• The Giant Bamboo Happening, John Ferguson, 1982

As illustrator

• Animal Stories by Ruth Manning-Sanders, OUP, 1961
• Half a World Away by Nan Chauncy, OUP, 1962
• Pastures of the Blue Crane by Hesba Brinsmead, OUP, 1964
• Winged Skis by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1964
• Victoria: the story of a great queen by Elisabeth Kyle, Thomas Nelson, 1964
• Nordy Bank by Sheena Porter, OUP, 1965
• Silver Brumbies of the South by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1965
• Silver Brumby Kingdom by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1966
• Birds: Poems by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1967
• Trim by Matthew Flinders, Collins, 1977
• The Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson, Nelson, 1986