We all know the Mr Men and Little Misses, but do you know how they became the household name we all know and love? Come with us as we look into how Robert Hargreaves created the series of funny and colourful books.
The Beginning
Roger Hargreaves was born in 1935 in West Yorkshire, where, from an early age, he had a natural talent for drawing.
Before becoming the beloved author he is today, he worked as an advertising copywriter however, he had the ambition to become a cartoonist and author.
One day, Rogers' son Adam asked him, ‘What does a tickle look like?'. This was the birth of Mr Tickle. Mr Tickle was released in 1971 along with Mr. Greedy, Mr Happy, Mr Noesy, Mr Sneeze and Mr.Bump and in the first three years of release, sold 3 million copies.
In 1976, Roger Hargreaves became the full-time author of the Mr Men series.
Roger Created the Little Miss books in 1981, which included characters such as Little Miss Bossy, Naughty and Sunshine.
Unfortunately, Roger Hargreaves passed in 1988, meaning that his son Adam, who gave Roger the idea for Mr Tickle, took over the family business at the age of 25 and has helped to create new and interesting characters that you know and love.
Let's look at what other projects the Mr Men and the Little Misses have been up to!
Other Media
The Mr Men and Little Misses over the decades have appeared in many places in media, including TV, Newspapers, and even in the Charts!
TV Shows
From 1974- 1978, 28 of Hardgreaves' books were brought to life by the BBC with an animated series of the books narrated by Arthur Lowe.
Due to its success, there were others released, such as The Little Miss series in 1983-1884, and between 1997 and 2007, more animated books were shown on Channel 5’s Milkshake.
In July 2025, a mini YouTube series was released with 12 episodes of Mini Adventures with your favourite characters.
Newspapers
In 1977, Roger’s comic strips were published by The Mirror and The Daily Mail for the next couple of years.
Top Of the Charts
The ‘Mr Men Songs’ were released by BBC Records in 1979, which were based on the characters.
Advertisements
Glasgow’s Miles Better - 1983
Mr Happy helped promote the City of Glasgow by putting advertisements on buses, badges and banners
Google - 2011
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of the Mr Men and Roger’s 76th Birthday, Google released a set of Google doodles.
Underground Posters - 2016
The Mr Men and Little Misses went on around the London Transport System on posters to promote safety on the underground
We hope you’ve enjoyed a little deep dive into the History of The Mr Men and Little Misses and see how much they’ve achieved over the years