Barrie Saves Christmas

Author: Mangan, Stephen

Interest age: from c 8 years

Published on 9 October 2025 by Scholastic in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 304 pages
206 x 141 x 33 | 404g

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A high-energy, brilliantly silly, fully illustrated festive

adventure story by much-loved actor Stephen Mangan and talented

artist Anita Mangan.

Barrie is a St Bernard dog who much prefers snoozing and farting

in front of a cosy fire than going on daring rescue missions through

high winds, driving snow and avalanches.

On Christmas Eve, his humans Carrie and Laurence find a top-secret

network of underground tunnels accessed by climbing into postboxes

- and there's an extra special twist! The tunnels are designed

for squirrels to transport presents from Father Christmas' workshop

in the North Pole to all the children of the world.

When a mysterious elf seems set on sabotaging the tunnels, the

kids and Barrie must stop him and SAVE CHRISTMAS!

This funniest festive adventure is a must-read spin on The

Night Before Christmas

From the bestselling creators of The Fart That Changed the

World and The Day I Fell Down the Toilet

A laugh out loud celebration of the magic of Christmas 

More Praise for Stephen & Anita's books:

'Brilliant, clever, kind of genius'

Graham Norton

 '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 a bestselling author, actor

and presenter. His comic gift is seen in shows such as Green

Wing, I'm Alan Partridge and Episodes.

Stephen appears in drama such as BBC One's The Split

and regularly performs on stage in roles such as a much-praised Scrooge

in The Old Vic's A Christmas Carol. Stephen presents Portrait

and Landscape Artist of the Year and new gameshows Password

and The Fortune Hotel. He is a guest presenter

on Pointless and Have I Got News for You.

Anita Mangan is a successful illustrator and

designer whose remarkable artwork sparks with wit and style. She

worked for Comic Relief before becoming a designer and illustrator.

Since then, she has worked on award-winning books and

the bestselling 'Be a Unicorn, Sloth, Flamingo...' series

- as well as illustrating Stephen's children's novels.

Stephen and Anita have appeared together on Celebrity Gogglebox