P. J. Lynch

Patrick James Lynch (born 2 March 1962), known professionally as P. J. Lynch, is an Irish artist and illustrator of children's books. He has won a number of awards, including two Kate Greenaway Medals and three Christopher Awards.

Early life Lynch was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1962 as the youngest of five children to a Catholic family. His mother's family was from Dunloy, County Antrim and the family often spent their summers there. He credits one of his three brothers, Denis, as who inspired him to start drawing. and he continued on to Brighton College of Art, where he was tutored by Raymond Briggs. At the time, Briggs headed the illustration department and encouraged Lynch to pursue a career as an illustrator, which he did upon graduating in 1984.

Career Book illustrations Lynch's first illustrated book was A Bag of Moonshine by Alan Garner (1986), a collection of folklore tales from England and Wales. In 1987, he was presented with the Mother Goose Award, which recognises the "most exciting newcomer to British children's book illustration." Since then, folklore and other traditional stories, legends, and fairytales, have been regular subjects in his work.

Susan Wojciechowski's book The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey has been considered a Christmas classic since selling out within three weeks of its first publication in 1995. Lynch initially turned down the opportunity to illustrate the book, afraid he would not do it justice, but later changed his mind. According to WorldCat, more than 3,096 member libraries worldwide own at least one copy of Jonathan Toomey.

Lynch won his second Greenaway Medal in 1997 and his second Christopher Award in 1998 for illustrating When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest. In 2014, he won the Bisto Book of the Year Honour Award for Illustration for Mysterious Traveller by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham. He has also been nominated twice (2010, 2014) for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. In 2016, he was named the fourth Laureate na nÓg, following Siobhan Parkinson, Niamh Sharkey, and Eoin Colfer. and for the Abbey Theatre's 2016 production of The Importance of Being Earnest. He has designed a number of stamps for An Post, including Christmas sets and individual stamps inspired by books such as Gulliver's Travels and The Happy Prince. He was commissioned by Cavan County Library for two large oil paintings inspired by Gulliver's Travels to hang in their entrance. As with Jonathan Toomey, Lynch acted out the characters in his library paintings to get a better sense of their world. In 2020, he designed a 14 metre by 14 metre, 1.5 million-piece mosaic featuring the Virgin Mary for Knock Basilica in County Mayo. As Laureate na nÓg, he hosted a video podcast series called The Big Picture! featuring drawing techniques. In 2021, he was again chosen to create a coin, this time featuring a woman of colour; he chose to draw Britannia as a Black woman.

Despite not initially being interested in writing, Lynch has published two books: The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland's Good Fortune (2015) and The Haunted Lake (2020). He tries to avoid using too many digital programs "in case they get too slick"

Published works As author Year Title Publisher Age Genre ISBN References 2015 The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland's Good Luck Candlewick Press Middle-grade Historical 978-0763665845

As illustrator Year Title Author Publisher Genre Pages Awards Notes ISBN References 1986 A Bag of Moonshine Alan Garner HarperCollins Folklore 144 Mother Goose Award (1987) Collection of folkloric stories 978-0385295178 1987 Johnny Reed's Cat and Other Northern Tales Kathleen Hersom A & C Black Folklore 79 978-0713627732 Moondial Helen Cresswell Faber and Faber Fantasy 214 978-0571148059 1988 The Raggy Taggy Toys Joyce Dunbar Orchard Books Magic 30 978-1852130343 Melisande E. Nesbit Walker Books Fairytale 37 Illustrated collection published 64 years after Nesbit's death 1990 Stories for Children Oscar Wilde Simon & Schuster Fairytale 94 Illustrated collection published 90 years after Wilde's death Fairy Tales from Ireland William Butler Yeats HarperCollins Fairytale 160 Illustrated collection published 59 years after Yeats' death 1991 East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe Walker Books Fairytale 40 Illustrated version published 106 years after Asbjørnsen's death, 109 years after Moe's The Steadfast Tin Soldier Hans Christian Andersen Andersen Press Fairytale 30 Illustrated version published 116 years after Andersen's death 1992 Forbidden Doors Susan Price Faber and Faber Fantasy 1993 The Candlewick Book of Fairy Tales Sarah Hayes Candlewick Press Fairytale 92 Collection of classic fairytales 978-1564022608 The Snow Queen Hans Christian Andersen Andersen Press Fairytale 48 Illustrated version published 118 years after Andersen's death 978-0862644130 1994 Catkin Antonia Barber Walker Press Fairytale 41 Shorted listed for 1994 Greenaway Medal 1995 The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey Susan Wojciechowski Walker Press Christmas fiction 40 Winner of Greenaway Medal and Christopher Award 1996 Boy in Darkness Mervyn Peake Hodder Children's Books Fantasy 114 Illustrated version published 28 years after Peake's death 978-0340683231 The King of Ireland's Son Brendan Behan Andersen Press Fairytale 31 Illustrated version published 32 years after Behan's death 978-0862646936 1997 Favourite Fairy Tales Sarah Hayes Walker Press Fairytale 92 Collection compiled by Sarah Hayes When Jessie Came Across the Sea Amy Hest Walker Press Historical 40 Winner of 1997 Greenaway Medal and 1998 Christopher Award 1999 Grandad's Prayers of the Earth Douglas Wood Walker Press Bereavement 28 Winner of Christopher Award 978-0744556483 Alphabet Gallery: An ABC Of Contemporary Illustrators Gina Pollinger (editor) Mammoth Publications 55 978-0749740450 2000 The Names Upon the Harp Marie Heaney Faber and Faber Folklore 95 Collection of Irish legends 978-0571193639 2001 Ignis Gina Wilson Walker Press Fantasy 38 978-0744575286 2002 A Witch in Time Terry Deary A & C Black Fantasy 72 978-0713662023 2003 The Bee-Man of Orn Frank R. Stockton Walker Press Fantasy 48 Illustrated version published 101 years after Stockton's death 978-1844285068 2006 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens Candlewick Press Christmas fiction 156 Published 136 years after Dickens' death 978-0763631208 2008 The Gift of the Magi O. Henry Candlewick Press Christmas fiction 40 Published 98 years after Henry's death 978-0763635305 2009 The Nutcracker Simon Stewart (adaptor) W5 LTD Christmas 40 978-0956383402 Lincoln and His Boys Rosemary Wells Candlewick Press Historical 96 978-0763637231 2010 The Story of Britain Patrick Dillon & Martha Dillon Walker Press Historical 340 978-1406311921 2011 No One But You Douglas Wood Candlewick Press Nature 32 978-0763638481 2013 Mysterious Traveler Mal Peet & Elspeth Graham Candlewick Press 48 978-0763662325 Fields of Home Marita Conlon-McKenna O'Brien Press Historical 192 Part of the Children of the Famine Trilogy 978-1847176028 2014 The Snow Globe: Beyond the Stars Marita Conlon-McKenna HarperCollins Fantasy 50 978-0008103378 2015 Once Upon a Place Eoin Colfer (editor) Little Island Poetry, Ireland 208 Collection of 6 poems and 11 short stories from Irish authors 978-1910411377 2017 Patrick and the President Ryan Tubridy Candlewick Press Historical 40 978-0763689490 2021 The Dog Who Lost His Bark Eoin Colfer Candlewick Press Animals 144 978-1536219173 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Clement Clarke Moore Candlewick Press Christmas 32 Illustrated gift edition published 158 years after Moore's death 978-1536222852 2023 Three Tasks for a Dragon Eoin Colfer Walker Books Fantasy 112 978-1529505825