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]
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]
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]