'The Moon Spun Round, W. B. Yeats for Children' edited by Noreen Doody, illustrated by myself and published by The O'Brien Press, 2016.
‘I do of course have to wax lyrical about the visuals. And they're just brilliant. If anyone can put pen to paper and recreate the heavens' embroidered cloths, then it's Shona Shirley Macdonald, on this evidence. There's a brief lament to a fleeing squirrel, which makes the critter and the tree it's escaping up completely mythical entities. The Sidhe here can be quite vicious-looking faerie-folk, but have an appealing turn to their eye when needed; they're often dancing in multitudes, forcing no end of detail on to the page. And I just loved The Wild Swans at Coole, and how one of the birds practically becomes the titular lake. … fabulous visual craft’
thebookbag.co.uk
‘what The Waterboys communicated through music, Shona Shirley MacDonald now brings to life afresh through her magical, mist-swirled illustrations for The Moon Spun Round … gossamer-light drawings dance around the text like a wave on the sea … will enchant readers of all ages and open many eyes to the beauty of the poetry they describe’
Evening Echo
‘what purports to be an introduction to the poetry of W. B. Yeats could well be classed as Yeats introducing an exciting new illustrator to the Irish market. The superb selection of illustrations, sometimes reminiscent of Clark, Rackham and P J Lynch, are breathtaking in scope and composition.’
Irish Examiner
The Cat and the Moon
Hodges Figgis window, Dublin 2016
To a Child Dancing in the Wind
The Fiddler of Dooney
The Man in His Boots
The Stolen Child
The Wicked Hawthorn Tree
To a Squirrel at Kyle-na-no
The Wild Swans of Lake Coole
The Song of Wandering Aengus
The Wisdom of the King
