PJ Lynch was born in Belfast, and became interested in art at an early age. He has worked as a children’s book illustrator since leaving Brighton College of Art in England in 1984, and has illustrated dozens of books, including modern classics such as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. PJ has been awarded the Christopher Medal three times. He has also won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal on two occasions, first for The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski, and again for When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest. PJ  

illustrated the anthology Once Upon a Place, which was compiled by Eoin Colfer as Laureate na nÓg. In 2015, PJ published The Boy who Fell off the Mayflower, the first picturebook he both wrote and illustrated. Since then, he has illustrated books including Eoin Colfer’s The Dog Who Lost His Bark and Patrick and the President, by Ryan Tubridy. Written and illustrated by PJ, The Haunted Lake, was the winner of the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Honour Award for Illustration 2021. Clement C Moore’s ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas is PJ’s latest work. PJ Lynch was Ireland’s fourth Laureate na nÓg (2016-2018).