''The Man'' is a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

la for children, written and illustrated by

Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...

and published by Julia MacRae Books in 1992. It tells the humorous story of a boy, John, who is visited by the titular Man, a minuscule human (

homunculus A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...

) who arrives in the boy's bedroom unclothed and hungry. After getting over his initial shock, the boy starts to take care of him. The story follows their relationship over the next few days between John and 'Man', with the Man showing himself to be demanding, bossy and messy, but nevertheless a bond forms between the pair. Their time together involves many funny and peculiar moments, such as an odd obsession with Frank Cooper's Oxford marmalade, using socks for jumpers, and a near-death collision with a marmalade jar. Unlike the boy and Snowman in Briggs' famous wordless picture book ''

The Snowman ''The Snowman'' is a 1982 British animated television film based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book '' The Snowman.'' It was directed by Dianne Jackson for Channel 4. It was first shown on 26 December 1982, and was an immediate success. It ...

'', both characters have full dialogue throughout, with each character's lines formatted differently so that they can be distinguished. Occasionally the dialogue and drawings are interspersed so that speech bubbles surround certain lines of text. Dutch and Danish-language editions were published in 1993 and the first U.S. edition in 1995. Later there was an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

edition, with

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

voicing the Man and William Puttock voicing John. For both writing and illustrating ''The Man'' Briggs won the 1992

Kurt Maschler Award The Kurt Maschler Award (1982 to 1999) was a British literary award that annually recognised one "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other." Winning authors and ill ...

, or "the Emil". The award annually (1982 to 1999) recognised one British "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other."

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External links

* — immediately, first edition {{DEFAULTSORT:Man, The Novels by Raymond Briggs Picture books by Raymond Briggs 1992 British novels 1992 children's books British picture books British graphic novels Fictional characters without a name British children's books

See also

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External links