The Unlikely Rise of Harry Sponge €5 off orders over €30+ with code MERRY5 €10 off orders over €50+ with code MERRY10 €20 off orders over €80+ with code MERRY20 €30 off orders over €100+ with code MERRY30
- Format
- Paperback
- eur prices
-
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- Rewards/RRP: €11.75
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Product description
A high-energy, laugh-out-loud, fully illustrated adventure story by much-loved actor Stephen Mangan and talented artist Anita Mangan.
Grumpy old King Chisel has a problem.
He needs an heir to his kingdom – fast! So he challenges the best kids from across the country to compete in the Crown Duels, with the ultimate winner becoming king or queen. Step forward:
GLORIA SQUAT-FURTHER: champion athlete
HUXLEY BEELINE: mathematical genius
JONNY MOULD: artistic ace
GOSSAMER FOUNTAIN: empathy expert
HARRY SPONGE: ordinary boy. Not to be underestimated…
The ridiculous prime minister, Farting Bernie, is in charge and the contest swiftly descend into chaos. Who will rise to the top and survive wild sabotaging, saggy royal pants, the most disgusting meal ever invented, and a pair of frisky goats?
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 books:
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
The Fart That Changed the World
“A sure-fire way for kids to entertain themselves. What’s more, it’s also excellent for reading aloud” LoveReading4Kids
“Laugh-out-loud stuff” Ray D’Arcy
“A high-energy, brilliantly imaginative and laugh-out-loud tale that is guaranteed to blow away young readers” Lancashire Evening Post
The Unlikely Rise of Harry Sponge
“After the runaway success of joint debut novel, Escape the Rooms, and the hilarious The Fart That Changed the World, the dynamic duo return with an all-action, marvellously manic and laugh-out-loud tale with a message that any child can be a hero” Lancashire Evening Post
“hilarious … A right royal romp” First News
ABOUT THE MANGANS
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.
Stephen on writing for children (interview on ITV’s Lorraine): “Every page has to grip them, make them laugh, be interesting because they can drop it. There are screens everywhere that they can pick up. That’s part of the reason why I started writing books because I had such fun as a kid reading books. I always had my head in a book. I wanted to write books that were unputdownable for children, that were full of adventure and crazy big characters and made them laugh.”
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.
Our June 2023 Ages 9-10 Book of the Month
Our Book of the Month for 9+ is The Unlikely Rise of Harry Sponge by the much-loved actor Stephen Mangan! The Cantankerous old King Chisel needs an heir, so he has created the Crown Duels competition, inviting the best kids from his country to vie with one another to become the future king or queen. Chaos ensues as this gruesome gang of children compete in a multi-discipline game with pushy parents, wild sabotaging, and morally questionable tactics. Among them all, will an unassuming hero, Harry Sponge, be able to rise to the top?
Fully illustrated by talented artist Anita Mangan, this book is a high-energy, laugh-out-loud adventure from a bestselling brother-sister duo. The brilliantly silly and delightfully imaginative storytelling puts across the key message that any kid can be a hero, perfect for fans of David Baddiel, David Walliams, and Tom Fletcher. Full of surreal, larger-than-life characters, sparkling dialogue, and just the right amount of anarchy, The Unlikely Rise of Harry Sponge is a great choice for even the most reluctant of readers.

Product Details
Catalogue number
970 in Setanta SCB September 2025
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780702315015
Publisher
Date published
April 27th, 2023
Lexile measure
720L
Accelerated Reader
AR book level: 4.9; Middle years; 5.0 points
Other details
- 352 pages
Condition
New
Available in these packs
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4books
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Get €10 off €50+. Offer can only be used once per customer. Offer excludes purchases made using Rewards. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers. Bulk orders of more than 15 book packs or individual titles can only be accepted for delivery to a school setting and not to individual or business addresses. Offer ends at 11.59pm on 15th December 2025.
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