Andrew McDonald author page

Andrew McDonald biography

Andrew McDonald is an Australian children’s author and the creator of the Real Pigeons and Hello Twigs series, both illustrated by Ben Wood and published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing. He is a graduate of RMIT’s Professional Writing and Editing diploma and also holds a bachelor’s degree in Media Studies (Journalism).

Real Pigeons begins with Real Pigeons Fight Crime, in which a secret squad of pigeons investigates mysteries including disappearing breadcrumbs and kidnapped bats. The series combines prose with Ben Wood’s comic-style illustrations and has expanded to more than a dozen books, including Real Pigeons Flap Out, Real Pigeons Power Up and Real Pigeons Bin Baddies. McDonald and Wood’s work together has been translated into 26 languages.

McDonald also writes the Hello Twigs early graphic novel series, published in the United States as Twig Friends. His books have received recognition from the Children’s Book Council of Australia awards and have been shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards, the Readings Children’s Book Prize and children’s choice awards including YABBA, KOALA and KROC.

McDonald and Wood also created the picture book Now You Are a Chicken. Their Real Pigeons series continues with its fourteenth book, Real Pigeons Trap Snacks, scheduled for publication in Australia and New Zealand on 27 October 2026.