Search results for ""Catapult""

Become a LinkedIn power user and harness the potential of social selling With the impact of COVID, remote working has become big, and so has the use of digital/virtual sales tools. More sales teams want and need to understand how to use social media platforms like LinkedIn to sell, and most do not use it properly. The Ultimate LinkedIn Sales Guide is the go-to book and guide for utilizing LinkedIn to sell. It covers all aspects of social and digital selling, including building the ultimate LinkedIn profile, using the searching functions to find customers, sending effective LinkedIn messages (written, audio & video), creating great content that generates sales, and all the latest tips and tricks, strategies and tools. With the right LinkedIn knowledge, you can attract customers and generate leads, improving your sales numbers from the comfort and safety of your computer. No matter what you are selling, LinkedIn can connect you to buyers. If you’re savvy, you can stay in touch with clients and generate more repeat sales, build trust, and create engaging content that will spread by word-of-mouth—the most powerful sales strategy around. This book will teach you how to do all that and more. In The Ultimate LinkedIn Sales Guide you will learn how to: Use the proven 4 Pillars of Social Selling Success to improve your existing LinkedIn activities or get started on a firm footing Create the Ultimate LinkedIn Profile, complete with a strong personal brand that could catapult you to industry leader status Generate leads using LinkedIn, then build and manage relationships with connected accounts to turn those leads into customers Utilize little-known LinkedIn “power tools” to grow your network, send effective messages, and write successful LinkedIn articles And so much more! The Ultimate LinkedIn Sales Guide is a must read for anyone wishing to utilise LinkedIn to improve sales.

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SUCCESS BEGINS WITH ATTITUDE. Yet a truly positive, resilient outlook—the kind that just won't quit—often takes training, self-reflection, and practice. But staying positive in tough times isn't easy. If you've experienced a setback at work, suffered a personal loss, or struggle to make it through the monotony of the workday, A Kick in the Attitude is for you. What jumper cables are to a car battery, this book is to your attitude. It's the positive charge you need to break out of the trap of negative thinking and get back on the track to achieving the success you deserve. What if you already feel happy and successful? You will still benefit. A Kick in the Attitude is that positive charge that will catapult your life in a positive direction. It will recharge your batteries and keep you thriving through all life's ups and downs. It shows you how to develop the kind of positive, resilient outlook on life that keeps you going—with just a little training, self-reflection, and practice. A Kick in the Attitude describes the concrete, proven principles that will put focus and vigor back into your life and work. It gives you the tools you need to revive your attitude with passion and purpose—to make your attitude work for you rather than against you. This is a simple, straightforward guide that will let you convert adversity into new directions and new opportunities; improve your productivity and teamwork in the office; and bring passion and confidence to everything you do in life. Featuring eighteen principles for living and working with enthusiasm and positivity—this is just the kick-in-the-pants we all need.

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‘An absolute delight. It’s beautiful and elegiac and written with such a good heart’ BAFTA award-winning screenwriter and producer Russell T. Davies OBE ‘A simply heart-string tugging book that offers a ready escape route from these testing time’ Jon Gower, Nation Cymru Here Henry was, once again in a bustling train station, ready to resume where he had left off all those years ago… Finding Henry Applebee is a charming, tender and uplifting story about unlikely friendships, the power of love – and how it’s never too late to change your life. Perfect for fans of The Single Ladies of the Jacaranda Retirement Village and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Eighty-five-year-old Henry Arthur Applebee has had a pretty good life. But one regret has haunted him for the last sixty-five years. And so, on an ordinary December morning, he boards a train from London to Edinburgh. His goal is simple: to find the woman who disappeared from his life decades earlier. But Henry isn’t the only person on a mission. Also bound for Edinburgh is troubled teen, Ariel. And when the two strangers collide, what began as one humble journey will catapult them both into a whole new world… What readers are saying: 'A great book … I highly recommend it to those interested in a narrative that touches one's heart and soul' Peter Thabit Jones ‘Beautifully written, wonderfully warm’ bestselling author Zara Stoneley ‘An uplifting read … tender, beautiful writing and wonderful observations’ bestselling author Tracy Rees ‘An intricate, absorbing, sliding puzzle of a story about friendship, family and love’ bestselling author Iona Grey ‘Just wonderful’ Goodreads reviewer ‘This book will warm the cockles of your heart’ Goodreads reviewer ‘A moving portrait of the power of human kindness’ Goodreads reviewer

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Jack Ruby changed history with one bold, violent action: killing accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV two days after the November 22, 1963, murder of President John F. Kennedy. But who was Jack Ruby, and how did he come to be in that spot on that day? As we approach the sixtieth anniversaries of the murders of Kennedy and Oswald, Jack Ruby’s motives are as maddeningly ambiguous today as they were the day that he pulled the trigger. The fascinating yet frustrating thing about Ruby is that there is evidence to paint him as at least two different people. Much of his life story points to him as bumbling, vain, violent, and neurotic; a product of the grinding poverty of Chicago’s Jewish ghetto; a man barely able to make a living or sustain a relationship with anyone besides his dogs. By the same token, evidence exists of Jack Ruby as cagey and competent, perhaps not a mastermind, but a useful pawn of the Mob and of both the police and the FBI; someone capable of running numerous legal, illegal, and semi-legal enterprises, including smuggling arms and vehicles to both sides in the Cuban revolution; someone capable of acting as middleman in bribery schemes to have imprisoned Mob figures set free.Cultural historian Danny Fingeroth's research includes a new, in-depth interview with Rabbi Hillel Silverman, the legendary Dallas clergyman who visited Ruby regularly in prison and who was witness to Ruby’s descent into madness. Fingeroth also conducted interviews with Ruby family members and associates. The book’s findings will catapult you into a trip through a house of historical mirrors. At its end, perhaps Jack Ruby’s assault on history will begin to make sense. And perhaps we will understand how Oswald’s assassin led us to the world we live in today.

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Agile has the power to transform work--but only if it's implemented the right way.For decades business leaders have been painfully aware of a huge chasm: They aspire to create nimble, flexible enterprises. But their day-to-day reality is silos, sluggish processes, and stalled innovation. Today, agile is hailed as the essential bridge across this chasm, with the potential to transform a company and catapult it to the head of the pack.Not so fast. In this clear-eyed, indispensable book, Bain & Company thought leader Darrell Rigby and his colleagues Sarah Elk and Steve Berez provide a much-needed reality check. They dispel the myths and misconceptions that have accompanied agile's rise to prominence--the idea that it can reshape an organization all at once, for instance, or that it should be used in every function and for all types of work. They illustrate that agile teams can indeed be powerful, making people's jobs more rewarding and turbocharging innovation, but such results are possible only if the method is fully understood and implemented the right way.The key, they argue, is balance. Every organization must optimize and tightly control some of its operations, and at the same time innovate. Agile, done well, enables vigorous innovation without sacrificing the efficiency and reliability essential to traditional operations. The authors break down how agile really works, show what not to do, and explain the crucial importance of scaling agile properly in order to reap its full benefit. They then lay out a road map for leading the transition to a truly agile enterprise.Agile isn't a goal in itself; it's a means to becoming a high-performance operation. Doing Agile Right is a must-have guide for any company trying to make the transition--or trying to sustain high agility.

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A new history of the large, fast, and long-ranged armored cruisers of the US Navy, and the roles that these warships played in the fleet as America developed into a great naval power. At the dawn of the “Steel Navy” era, the rapidly expanding US Navy's fleet of capital ships consisted not only of battleships but also armored cruisers, the forerunner of the battlecruiser. Armored cruisers sacrificed the battleship’s superlative firepower and protection for superior speed and range but, as this study shows, their role was not always easy to define. Controversial because they were as large and expensive as battleships but not able to withstand a battleship in battle, contemporary strategists pointed out that, “naval wars are not won by running away from stronger ships.” Despite being produced at great expense, tactically they never really had a legitimate mission–traditional deployments were commerce raiding and protection, but despite this, author Brian Lane Herder illustrates how successful the use of armored cruisers was for the US Navy. After 1906, some replaced US battleships in the Pacific, functioning as oversized gunboats, most notably, the modified armored cruiser Pennsylvania which witnessed the first landing of an airplane on a ship. On November 5, 1915, North Carolina became the first cruiser to launch an aircraft from a catapult while underway. After the war, surviving US armored cruisers represented the US Navy on their Asiatic station until the final cruiser was scuttled in 1946. Using detailed, color artwork and photos, this fascinating book describes the development and deployment of these controversial but intriguing ships, providing examples of the key service they played in the US Navy in a variety of defensive and escorting roles.

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Poland in the 1980s was filled with shuttered restaurants and shops that bore such imaginative names as "bread," "shoes," and "milk products," from which lines could stretch for days on the mere rumor there was something worth buying. But you'd be hard-pressed to recognize the same squares buzzing with bars and cafes today. In the years since the collapse of communism, Poland's GDP has almost tripled, making it the eight-largest economy in the European Union, with a wealth of well-educated and highly skilled workers and a buoyant private sector that competes in international markets. Many consider it one of the only European countries to have truly weathered the financial crisis. As the Warsaw bureau chief for the Financial Times, Jan Cienski spent more than a decade talking with the people who did something that had never been done before: recreating a market economy out of a socialist one. Poland had always lagged behind wealthier Western Europe, but in the 1980s the gap had grown to its widest in centuries. But the corrupt Polish version of communism also created the conditions for its eventual revitalization, bringing forth a remarkably resilient and entrepreneurial people prepared to brave red tape and limited access to capital. In the 1990s, more than a million Polish people opened their own businesses, selling everything from bicycles to leather jackets, Japanese VCRs, and romance novels. The most business-savvy turned those primitive operations into complex corporations that now have global reach. Well researched and accessibly and entertainingly written, Start-Up Poland tells the story of the opening bell in the East, painting lively portraits of the men and women who built successful businesses there, what their lives were like, and what they did to catapult their ideas to incredible success. At a time when Poland's new right-wing government plays on past grievances and forms part of the populist and nationalist revolution sweeping the Western world, Cienski's book also serves as a reminder that the past century has been the most successful in Poland's history.

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CHANGE YOUR THINKING CHANGE YOUR LIFE "Every line in this book is bursting with truth, wisdom, and power. Brian Tracy is the preeminent authority on showing you how to dramatically improve your life. Let him be your guide. I've learned so much from Brian myself that I can't thank him enough!" —Robert G. Allen, #1 New York Times bestselling author "This book gives you a step-by-step system to transform your thinking about yourself and your potential, enabling you to achieve greater success in every area of your life." —Lee Iacocca, Chairman, Lee Iacocca & Associates "Once again, Brian Tracy has written an incredible book which shows individuals how to delve into their inner resources so that they can not only identify realistic goals but develop a plan on how to achieve these goals. This book promises to be a bestseller and to influence the lives of so many. It is must reading." —Sally Pipes, President, Pacific Research Institute "Outstanding! Brian Tracy's Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life is a must-read. Use the powerful 'mental software' program in this book to tap your vast inner resources and bring the life you've been dreaming about into reality." —Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and Full Steam Ahead! "As usual, Brian Tracy has hit another home run with Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. It's a must-read!" —Mac Anderson, founder, Successories, Inc. "Brian's new book, Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, will show you how to attract the people and resources you need to achieve any goal you set for yourself." —Tony Jeary, Mr. Presentation, author of Life Is a Series of Presentations "This is a masterful book laden with wisdom and knowledge. It'll catapult you from intention to implementation. It arms you with the information and insights you need to achieve success and significance in your life." —Nido R. Qubein, founder, National Speakers Association Foundation Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Company

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Merle Haggard was one of the most important country music musicians who ever lived. His astonishing musical career stretched across the second half of the 20th Century and into the first two decades of the next, during which he released an extraordinary 63 albums, 38 that made it on to Billboard's Country Top Ten, 13 that went to #1, and 37 #1 hit singles. With his ample songbook, unique singing voice and brilliant phrasing that illuminated his uncompromising commitment to individual freedom, cut with the monkey of personal despair on his back and a chip the size of Monument Valley on his shoulder, Merle's music and his extraordinary charisma helped change the look, the sound, and the fury of American music.The Hag tells, without compromise, the extraordinary life of Merle Haggard, augmented by deep secondary research, sharp detail and ample anecdotal material that biographer Marc Eliot is known for, and enriched and deepened by over 100 new and far-ranging interviews. It explores the uniquely American life of an angry rebellious boy from the wrong side of the tracks bound for a life of crime and a permanent home in a penitentiary, who found redemption through the music of "the common man."Merle Haggard's story is a great American saga of a man who lifted himself out of poverty, oppression, loss and wanderlust, to catapult himself into the pantheon of American artists admired around the world. Eliot has interviewed more than 100 people who knew Haggard, worked with him, were influenced by him, loved him or hated him. The book celebrates the accomplishments and explore the singer's infamous dark side: the self-created turmoil that expressed itself through drugs, women, booze, and betrayal. The Hag offers a richly anecdotal narrative that will elevate the life and work of Merle Haggard to where both properly belong, in the pantheon of American music and letters.The Hag is the definitive account of this unique American original, and will speak to readers of country music and rock biographies alike.

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The definitive biography of country legend Merle Haggard by the New York Times bestselling biographer of Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, The Eagles, and more.Merle Haggard was one of the most important country music musicians who ever lived. His astonishing musical career stretched across the second half of the 20th Century and into the first two decades of the next, during which he released an extraordinary 63 albums, 38 that made it on to Billboard's Country Top Ten, 13 that went to #1, and 37 #1 hit singles. With his ample songbook, unique singing voice and brilliant phrasing that illuminated his uncompromising commitment to individual freedom, cut with the monkey of personal despair on his back and a chip the size of Monument Valley on his shoulder, Merle's music and his extraordinary charisma helped change the look, the sound, and the fury of American music.The Hag tells, without compromise, the extraordinary life of Merle Haggard, augmented by deep secondary research, sharp detail and ample anecdotal material that biographer Marc Eliot is known for, and enriched and deepened by over 100 new and far-ranging interviews. It explores the uniquely American life of an angry rebellious boy from the wrong side of the tracks bound for a life of crime and a permanent home in a penitentiary, who found redemption through the music of "the common man."Merle Haggard's story is a great American saga of a man who lifted himself out of poverty, oppression, loss and wanderlust, to catapult himself into the pantheon of American artists admired around the world. Eliot has interviewed more than 100 people who knew Haggard, worked with him, were influenced by him, loved him or hated him. The book celebrates the accomplishments and explore the singer's infamous dark side: the self-created turmoil that expressed itself through drugs, women, booze, and betrayal. The Hag offers a richly anecdotal narrative that will elevate the life and work of Merle Haggard to where both properly belong, in the pantheon of American music and letters.The Hag is the definitive account of this unique American original, and will speak to readers of country music and rock biographies alike.

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Unlock explosive growth potential with the true model of modern leadership Thoughtfully Ruthless lays out the secret to rapid business growth by showing you how to magically invent more time, catapult your energy, and boost the productivity of your resources. Author Val Wright has worked with leaders of all stripes—from doctors to musicians to Fortune 50 C-suite executives—to help them unlock their potential and achieve the next level of success. Her experiences have shown time and time again that it's not the economy, or the market conditions, or the competition that's holding your business back. The secret to exponential growth lies within how leaders ruthlessly manage their time, energy, and resources in parallel. Everyone is on a virtual center stage with the whole world watching and reporting every move, leaders need to know how to be ruthless in a thoughtful way. This book shows you how to become that kind of leader, and how to adopt the habits, skills, and practices of some of the most successful business leaders of our time. You'll learn how to become sensibly selfish, how to spend your time and energy, and what issues to delegate or ignore so you can clear your slate to focus on what really matters to you. In a world where rapid growth is the new norm, we have input overload. Leadership is much-lauded but commonly under-practiced in business today. This book is designed to help you shape your leadership to drive business growth, get you promoted faster, and create a life that you love. Recover your time and energy away from black holes Focus on the factors that really impact your business Identify and build the all-star team you need tomorrow—today Create magnetic support and followership Learn the secret to pulling ahead of the competition With all the boardroom handwringing about products, the new consumer, and financial results, it's easy to get sucked into issues that ultimately have only a granular effect on real growth. Thoughtfully Ruthless leadership differentiates remarkable leaders and companies. This book provides a model for growth-oriented leadership, and lays out the essential practices you should start today.

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Chartered in 1827 as the country's first railroad, the legendary Baltimore and Ohio played a unique role in the nation's great railroad drama and became the model for American railroading. John W. Garrett, who served as president of the B&O from 1858 to 1884, ranked among the great power brokers of the time. In this gripping and well-researched account, historian Kathleen Waters Sander tells the story of the B&O's beginning and its unprecedented plan to build a rail line from Baltimore over the Allegheny Mountains to the Ohio River, considered to be the most ambitious engineering feat of its time. The B&O's success ignited "railroad fever" and helped to catapult railroading to America's most influential industry in the nineteenth century. Taking the B&O helm during the railroads' expansive growth in the 1850s, Garrett soon turned his attention to the demands of the Civil War. Sander explains how, despite suspected Southern sympathies, Garrett became one of President Abraham Lincoln's most trusted confidantes and strategists, making the B&O available for transporting Northern troops and equipment to critical battles. The Confederates attacked the B&O 143 times, but could not put "Mr. Lincoln's Road" out of business. After the war, Garrett became one of the first of the famed Gilded Age tycoons, rising to unimagined power and wealth. Sander explores how-when he was not fighting fierce railroad wars with competitors-Garrett steered the B&O into highly successful entrepreneurial endeavors, quadrupling track mileage to reach important commercial markets, jumpstarting Baltimore's moribund postwar economy, and constructing lavish hotels in Western Maryland to open tourism in the region. Sander brings to life the brazen risk-taking, clashing of oversized egos, and opulent lifestyles of the Gilded Age tycoons in this richly illustrated portrait of one man's undaunted efforts to improve the B&O and advance its technology. Chronicling the epic technological transformations of the nineteenth century, from rudimentary commercial trade and primitive transportation westward to the railroads' indelible impact on the country and the economy, John W. Garrett and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is a vivid account of Garrett's twenty-six-year reign.

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Inspire a lifelong passion for science and nature with these outdoor physics, chemistry, and biology experiments for kids! In Outdoor Science Lab for Kids, scientist and mom Liz Heinecke presents 52 family-friendly labs designed to get kids outside in every season. From playground physics to backyard bugs, this book makes it fun and easy to dig into the natural sciences and learn more about the world around you. Following clear, photo-illustrated step-by-step instructions, have fun learning about: The laws of physics by constructing and using a marshmallow catapult. Centripetal forces by swinging a sock filled with gelatin snack and marbles. Earthworms by using ground mustard seed dissolved in water to make them wriggle to the surface. Germination by sprouting a sapling from a pine cone or tree seed. Surface tension and capillary action by growing baking soda stalagmites and stalactites. And so much more! Along with the experiments, you’ll find: Tips for keeping a science journal. Suggestions for taking your experimentation to the next level with “Creative Enrichment.” Accessible explanations of “The Science Behind the Fun.” Safety tips and hints. The experiments can be used as part of a homeschool curriculum, for family fun, at parties, or as educational activities for groups. Many of the simple and inexpensive experiments are safe enough for toddlers, yet exciting enough for older kids, so families can discover the joy of science and STEM education together. *Outdoor Science Lab for Kids was a 2017 Finalist for the AAAS/Subaru Prize for excellence in science books.* The popular Lab for Kids series features a growing list of books that share hands-on activities and projects on a wide host of topics, including art, astronomy, clay, geology, math, and even how to create your own circus—all authored by established experts in their fields. Each lab contains a complete materials list, clear step-by-step photographs of the process, as well as finished samples. The labs can be used as singular projects or as part of a yearlong curriculum of experiential learning. The activities are open-ended, designed to be explored over and over, often with different results. Geared toward being taught or guided by adults, they are enriching for a range of ages and skill levels. Gain firsthand knowledge on your favorite topic with Lab for Kids.

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In this paperback reboot of the popular 2012 title, readers will find a collection of the most up-to-date and thrilling DIY tech projects around—straight from the experts at Popular Science magazine. Updated with new and more modern projects, the Big Book of Hacks is the perfect book for aspiring makers, curious young techies and old-school enthusiasts alike … especially any who love using a soldering iron!Charge up that drill, fire up your soldering iron, and get ready to hack! Starting with a robust introduction to basic yet essential maker skills and followed by four comprehensive chapters of hack projects, this book has everything you’ll need: BASIC MAKER SKILLS From setting up your workspace to using basic hand and power tools to tinkering with robotics, find the top tips and essential skills every maker and maker-in-training needs to be successful. Other skills include 3-D printing, lasercutting, CAD design, and more! GEEK TOYS Be the life of the party with quirky drinking amusements, amazing pyrotechnics, and robots. Includes projects for installing a shower beer caddy, freezing LEGO ice cubes, wielding a potato launcher, building an LED-light dance floor, and constructing a light saber, with updates like a sword that detects free Wi-Fi, a solar-powered rover that really goes, a replica of a Roman catapult, and more! HOME IMPROVEMENTS Pimp out your pad with a laser-security system, an improvised sous-vide cooker, a secret door, an aquarium in an old TV, the perfect gaming chair or a life-size cardboard display of anyone you want. New projects include a sensor that lets you control your home’s temperature and energy use from afar, an automated pet-feeder, and a light made with pennies! GADGET UPGRADES Want to use an XBOX 360 controller as a phone case or build a polygraph test? Looking to brighten up a standard flashlight or charge your phone with solar rays? Improvise a fisheye lens for your camera or dye your laptop? Now you can upgrade many household items without breaking the bank. Look for updated content, such as a hacked radio that lets you listen to meteor showers, your very own DIY particle detector, and a cool soldering stencil. THINGS THAT GO Give your motorbike a Tron vibe or make a unicycle out of an old bike, deck out your car with an action-figure hood ornament or install a bed in your van, upgrade your kayak to a sail boat or take aerial photos with a balloon. Find these mobile projects and more—plus new stuff, like a heart-rate monitor you wear on your sleeve, a bike jacket with flashing turn signals, goggles with prescription lenses, and a bicycle-powered generator! With its clever tone, step-by-step instructions, and useful diagrams, every project is accessible to people of all ages. Find all the ingenious and hilarious projects that every techie will enjoy, in the upgraded The Big Book of Hacks.

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A high-energy, laugh-out-loud, fully illustrated adventure story by much-loved actor Stephen Mangan and talented artist Anita Mangan. "Laugh-out-loud stuff" Ray D’Arcy It's the most important day of the year for King Fabian as he is hosting all the neighbouring rulers. Everything simply must go perfectly. King Fabian wakes up, stretches, and... farts. His wife's fury is so huge that he panics and blames the butler, who is carted off to the dungeons. Leaving behind a big problem: Fabian isn't really the brains behind the crown: it is the butler... how will dithery Fabian manage to pull off this high-pressure event alone? His small and smelly fart looks like it will kick off a crisis... Frank - a kitchen boy with a big imagination - is drafted in as an emergency butler. As the banquet descends into a food fight and processions catapult out of control, Frank finds himself in an all-out farty farce. Can he save the day? Wildly funny and endlessly surprising, this is delightfully imaginative, surreal storytelling with a message that small events can trigger big change, and children can be heroes! Packed with pictures by Stephen Mangan's sister Anita Mangan. Escape the Rooms is one of the most loved and bestselling children's debuts of 2021. Stephen and Anita Mangan 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 "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.

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