Cartoonist Zoom helps BBC portray run-up to war

Prolific child cartoonist Zoom Rockman has been chosen to help commemorate the First World War on the BBC’s website.

The 13-year old is one of a dozen cartoonists chosen to respond to the events of 100 years ago in the run up to the outbreak of war one hundred years ago, alongside a real time series on Radio 4.

Zoom’s sketches depict the Howth gun-running that took place in Ireland in July 1914, which was key to arming the Irish Volunteers and played a vital role in the run-up to the Easter Rising in 1916.

The inclusion is but the latest accolade for the Barnet boy, whose short career has so far yielded a Spirit of London award, a meeting with David Cameron at Downing Street and a prize for Britain at the Bucheon International Comics Festival in Korea.

His artwork forms part of an exhibition at The Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury, which runs until October. At the launch, the youngster met historian Margaret MacMillan, who will be presenting the Radio 4 Show, and Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell.