Paddy Donnelly

New picture book out today! ‘The Island of the Bees’ buzzes its way onto bookshelves everywhere this morning. This story is written by @trishforde1 , the former @laureatenanog , and is illustrated by me. It’s published by @penguinbooksireland @puffinbooksuk and follows the story of Orla and her grandmother escaping from a volcano monster and taking their bees with them to find a new island. Along the way they run into dragons, and storms and all sorts of things. I loved working with Trish on this book, and I really hope you’ll enjoy it! You can grab a copy at your local bookshop today, or online at the usual places. Happy reading everyone. 🐝

I like to fill my books with wee nods to my favourite places. The Upside-Down Lighthouse has a spread which is turned on its side, when Meara and Grandad descend the steps inside the mysterious lighthouse. The walls and shelves are filled with lots of things, including a little picture of the beach and Fairhead in my hometown of Balkycastle. You can also spot a map of Rathlin Island (the home of the real upside-down lighthouse) as well as little models of its three lighthouses. And a bunch of other little details. The Upside-Down Lighthouse is in bookshops now, and is published by @theobrienpress .

Just one month to go until publication day for ‘The Island Of The Bees’, written by @laureatenanog Patricia Forde & illustrated by @paddy Donnelly. We thought we would share a sneak peek from one of the spreads in this stunning new picture book! Swipe to see more. Nestled on a peaceful island, Orla and her grandmother live tending their beloved bees. But bubbling below is a monster waiting to surface – a dormant volcano – and when it wakes Orla and the rest of the island must flee in search of safety. Orla adventures across the wild sea, guided by her buzzing friends, to find a new home. But what will they find over the horizon? An epic adventure of volcanoes, dragons and wild storms, with themes drawn from Irish legend. Written by the current Irish Children’s Laureate, this is a celebration of the magic of bees and the power we can all draw from the natural world. The Island of the Bees will be published on 14th May 2026 by @penguinbooksireland . You can already pre-order a copy of this beautiful picture book in your local bookshop or online at the usual places. 🐝

A little golden hare for this fine spring day. Nothing beats taking a moment, a pen, and a piece of paper in between the busy projects to doodle something. I’ll be slipping this signed drawing in for free with the next order in my print store. Visit the link in my bio to check out my prints.

If you ever wondered where authors and illustrators get the inspiration for their stories, I’ll give you a clue. It’s usually the books we read as children! ‘Naughty’ is written by @jeannewillis_author and illustrated by me, and it follows a whole host of naughty animals doing naughty things. The location doesn’t change throughout the book, but the level of chaos certainly does, as more and more animals appear. I remember reading a wordless picture book called ‘Full Moon Soup’ by Alastair Graham when I was a child and I pored over every detail in the illustrations where you looked into every room in the Hotel Splendide and followed all the characters and the chaos that ramped up and up. And all these years later this text by Jeanne was sent to me by @andersenpress and I knew it would be the perfect story to follow a similar path of chaos in the illustrations. Naughty is currently out in bookshops in hardback, but we’ve had some news that because the book is doing so well, the paperback edition will be publishing this September! You can pre-order a copy of the paperback edition already, or go and grab yourself a hardback edition today. This book is very, very re-readable. Perfect for any little ones who love animals, and chaos, and poo!

I’m so honoured that The Golden Hare has been chosen by the @irishbookawards in its list of the Top 60 Irish Books of the last 20 years! Flabbergasted to see my book up alongside all of these other giants. What a special night it was at the award ceremony in 2024 when my name was announced and I had to walk up on the stage to accept the award for Children’s Book of the Year! I don’t really remember much of what I said. 😅 Such an honour. The Golden Hare is a journey through the magic of nature with something special hidden in the illustrations. It’s published by @theobrienpress . You can now vote for The Golden Hare to be in the Top 20 list by visiting the link in my bio. All votes appreciated!

New episode alert! We finally managed to get a chance to chat to Paddy Donnelly, and we're thrilled about it! @paddy 's been on our 'MUST HAVE' guest-list since the podcast started, and we've never managed to nab him... until now. Tune in as we talk through his incredible body of work, his unconventional approach to getting his start in the publishing industry, his brilliant life advice, and his insights into his own work. It was a warm and wonderful chat, which we're delighted to share with you. Are you ready to Get Storyshaped? Find us wherever you find your podacsts. And the stories which shaped him include: Full Moon Soup, by Alastair Graham Full Moon Afloat, by Alastair Graham Dinosaurs! Magazine Palaeoart: Visions of the Prehistoric Past, by Zoe Lescase and Walton Ford, pub. Taschen Books Watership Down, by Richard Adams The Animals of Farthing Wood, by Colin Dann Run With the Wind, by Tom McCaughren Run Swift, Run Free, by Tom McCaughren Run to Earth, by Tom McCaughren Dodos are Forever, by Dick King-Smith @dickkingsmithauthor Irish Birds (encyclopedia) Don't Trust Fish, by @neilsharpson and @dsantat Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob, by @huwaaron The Circles in the Sky, by @karljamesmountford Island, by @markjanssenpicturebooks Felix and the Future Agency, by @rachelmorrisroeauthor

‘The surface of the water, is like a magic mirror between the sea and the sky’ said Grandad. My new picture book, The Upside-Down Lighthouse, is in bookshops now. It’s perfect for any little nature lovers as Meara and Grandad discover an island with swimming birds and flying fish, and stars that shine during the day and waterfalls that tumble upwards. And best of all, this place is real! Rathlin Island, off the coast of Ballycastle, has a REAL upside-down lighthouse. I really hope you enjoy this latest story. Published by @theobrienpress

Ok, I’m officially done. Over the last three weeks I’ve had 33 bookshop visits, 29 workshops with children, one amazing World Book Day, been in the Bestsellers charts for 3 weeks, had my artwork on Breakfast TV, caught 2 boats, drove all over Ireland, signed countless books, drew upside-down unicorns, had 3 book launches, painted artwork on 4 bookshop windows and visited one amazing upside-down lighthouse. Thanks so much to absolutely everyone I met along the way! The people who organised and came to my book launches, my amazing publishers @theobrienpress @dkbooks @andersenpress , the team at @worldbookdaysocial , all of the booksellers who have been promoting my books so fiercely, the teachers, librarians and everyone who organised my events for children, all the other authors and illustrators who have been so supportive, and especially to all of the parents and children who have bought my books. I loved meeting each and every one of you along the way! What a joy. I feel very, very lucky. And I’m away for a lie down.

A brilliant, lively and fun morning in Kennys today as we hosted an event with children's author and illustrator Paddy Donnelly, and 110 children from 4 local primary schools. Paddy provided so much entertainment and inspiration for the kids, as he read one of his stories and got all the children to draw their own books. The whole group together wrote a story about one of the students being swallowed by a shark, and drew and upside down unicorn! Every child who came also left with their own book, a copy of Badger's Books by Paddy Donnelly, @paddy . The event was the second community event we hosted over the past month, all with thanks to the €5,000 grant we received from @books_at_one to fund an event that gives back to the community. We used every cent of the fund to host the two events, using it to pay for books for every child, author costs and bus transport for the kids and teachers. Thank you so much to Books at One for this grant and opportunity. Today was so much fun - thank you to all the children and teachers who came, to organiser Gráinne for bringing it together, to Dean for the pictures and especially to the brilliant Paddy Donnelly.

How impressive is this?!!

A fantastic evening launching @paddy ’s ‘The Upside-Down Lighthouse’ 🌊 Signed copies available in @dubraybooks Grafton Street.