The Unlikely Rise of Harry Sponge

A high-energy, laugh-out-loud, fully illustrated adventure story by much-loved actor Stephen Mangan and talented artist Anita Mangan. Cantankerous old King Chisel is a ruler without an heir. He is persuaded to create a competition called the Crown Duels, inviting the best kids from the five counties of his country to vie with one another to become king or queen one day. This gruesome gang of children will compete in a multi-discipline game of knock-out to determine the winner. Chaos swiftly follows, with pushy parents, wild sabotaging, morally questionable tactics, tantrums and the ultimate shock result: it is unassuming hero Harry Sponge who will be the triumphant tortoise to their hot-air hares... The wildly funny, brilliantly silly adventure from the bestselling author and illustrator of Escape the Rooms and The Fart That Changed the World. Wildly funny, delightfully imaginative storytelling with a message that any kid can be a hero! Packed with pictures by Stephen Mangan's sister Anita Mangan. Escape the Rooms and The Fart That Changed the World have been huge bestsellers: Stephen and Anita are comic dynamite. Praise for Stephen and Anita's first book, Escape the Rooms: "A brilliant, clever, kind of genius book" Graham Norton, Virgin Radio 'Richly imagined and deeply heartfelt' Hadley Freeman, Guardian 'Manages to feel both classic and modern at the same time' Good Housekeeping 'A beautiful and exciting adventure that ignites the imagination' Edith Bowman Stephen Mangan is an author, script-writer and actor with huge range across TV, radio, film and theatre. From classic comedy such as Green Wing, Episodes and I'm Alan Partridge and acclaimed drama such as The Split, Stephen also presents Portrait and Landscape Artist of the Year and regularly appears on stage, most recently as a highly praised Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Stephen also voiced the title role in Postman Pat: The Movie. He has been a member of the judging panels for the Costa Book of the Year prize and The Laugh-Out-Loud Awards (The Lollies). His children's books are the bestselling Escape the Rooms and The Fart that Changed the World. Anita Mangan is a celebrated graphic designer and illustrator who has designed over 60 books including for Leon Restaurants, Gizzi Erskine and Fearne Cotton. She illustrated the best-selling Be a Unicorn series. Her first children's book was the bestselling Escape the Rooms.