FUN FACTS & FR

1

The small books published now are exactly the same size as the Mr Tickle story Roger Hargreaves first sent to his publishers.

2

There is a worm called Walter who pops up in many of the stories. He is sometimes in a scarf or a bow tie. 3

Roger’s twin daughters Amelia and Sophie asked him to create the Little Miss characters and Little Miss Twins is inspired by them.

4

He had lots of fun naming the human characters in the stories, with people like Mr Stamp the postman, Mrs Crumb the baker and Dr Makeyouwell.

5

The characters don’t all live in Happyland. Some of the other places are Coldland, Cleverland, Loudland, Nonsenseland, Miseryland and Sleepyland. 6 The fingerprints in Mr Messy were made by Roger with his ink blotter. 7 Roger used to leave the character’s expression until the next day, saying: “I love to come down in the morning and fill it in. It’s the smile that brings them alive.”

8

Mr Silly is both Roger and Adam’s favourite character, with the family saying he encapsulates Roger’s humour most closely.

9

Some books published in France aren’t characters in the UK, including Mr No and Little Miss Yes. Little Miss Cawaii, meaning Cute, is also only available in Japan.

10

There was once a cigar-smoking pig in Mr Silly, but in 1990 the artwork was changed to show him wearing trousers and a hat instead. 11

Roger was inspired by Charles M Schulz’s Snoopy, which began life in the comic strip Peanuts, so he was immensely proud when the Mr Men were turned into a long-running cartoon strip in The Daily Mirror. 12 Adam Hargreaves was all set to become a farmer before his father died in 1988 and he took over writing the Mr Men and Little Miss stories. His first story was Mr Cool.