Scholastic UK seizes a festive story from Mangan duo 

Scholastic UK has seized a festive story from author-illustrator, brother-sister duo Stephen Mangan and Anita Mangan.

Lauren Fortune, fiction publisher for Scholastic UK, acquired world rights for three new books by Stephen Mangan via Paul Stevens at Independent Talent and for their illustrations by Anita Mangan from Anna Pallai at AMP Literary. The Great Reindeer Rescue is the first book in the deal and will be published in hardback in October 2023. It will be launched with a "major" national PR and marketing campaign.

Stephen Mangan said: “I am excited to be writing my first funny festive story. Christmas is jam packed with comic potential and The Great Reindeer Rescue is full of all the things I enjoyed reading as a child – outrageous characters, adventure, danger and lots of laughs. I can’t wait for children to get swept away on the sleigh-ride of a lifetime.”

Anita Mangan added: “It is so much fun bringing Stephen’s characters to life. There are always lots of surprises in his books and I love adding more to the illustrations too. I can’t wait for children to meet Rudolph, Dave and the rest of the reindeer crew – they were a total joy to create.”

Fortune commented: “I am thrilled that Stephen and Anita are turning their incredible comic talents to a Christmas story. The Great Reindeer Rescue is the wickedly funny festive book to make all kids laugh. Stephen’s stories are laugh-out-loud, endlessly surprising and always have heart – perfectly complemented by Anita’s imaginative artwork."