David Rooney is an Irish illustrator working mainly in scraperboard, an engraving medium involving scratching away black ink from a chalk board surface using a surgical scalpel to reveal the white underneath. His work focusses mainly on cultural projects including the BBC's Story of Ireland, Titanic Experience and King John's Castle. His illustrations for the award-winning book 1916 Portraits and Lives were acquired by the OPW for the State and exhibited in Kilmainham Gaol as part of the centenary commemorations, before touring internationally. This is his first book for children.