The colourful Mr. Men children’s books has been putting smiles on children’s faces for 50 years. “It is an amazing fact that we’ve reached half a century, it’s a very long time for a series to be so successful,” said Adam Hargreaves.
Hargreaves said “the books’ enduring popularity after the first story’s publication in 1971 is an indication of how strong my father’s idea really is”.250 million copies of the small square books have been sold in 30 countries around the world, from Britain to China, and translated into 17 languages.
The characters in the Mr. Men and the Little Miss series are named after the emotion or behaviour they embody. According to Hargreaves it was his own childish question — “one of those impossible questions that children like to pose to their parents,” he said — that prompted his father to draw the first Mr. Men character.
“My question was: ‘what does a tickle look like?'” Hargreaves explained. In response, his father drew a little orange man with a blue hat and arms of incredible length. Mr. Tickle was born. The character became a book which eventually led to a television series narrated by actor, Arthur Lowe.
Over the following years, Mr. Tickle was joined by a cohort of friends, including the perpetually smiling Mr. Happy and the accident-prone, heavily bandaged Mr. Bump. The Little Miss series followed 10 years later.
During the Covid-19 crisis, the books have also played an important role.”Through this pandemic, Mr. Men and Little Miss have helped children understand how they feel.Mr. Grumpy will show them what anger is and show them how to deal with it, in a very kind of funny and amusing way,” added Hargreaves added.
