One surprise guest at the 2017 Manx Litfest was a brand new Mr Men character, designed especially for the Manx audience.

The aptly-named ’Mr Isle of Man, featuring, of course, three legs, was designed by Adam Hargreaves, the son of the creator of the popular ’Mr Men’ series of books, Roger Hargreaves.

He was presented to the festival organisers and displayed at the Mr Men-themed family fun at the St John’s Arboretum.

’A friend of ours also happens to be a friend of Adam’s,’ explained John Quirk, from the Litfest organising committee.

’They got chatting about the Litfest, and it was suggested that maybe he could create to something to go along with it. He was very kind enough to create ’Mr Isle of Man for us. It is a lovely thing to do.’

John said that the character is not got going to feature in any of the books, so he will remain a special creation purely for the island to enjoy. He also said that they hope it will go to help an island library.

’We’re not sure what exactly we are going to do with the original drawing yet, but we intend to muse it to help raise funds for the Family Library, on Westmoreland Road.’