Adam Hargreaves (born 18 June 1963) is an English author and illustrator. The son of

Roger Hargreaves Charles Roger Hargreaves (9 May 1935 – 11 September 1988) was an English author and illustrator of children's books. He created the ''Mr. Men'' series, ''Little Miss'' series and ''Timbuctoo'' series, intended for young readers. The simple and ...

, he continues his father's successful

Mr. Men ''Mr. Men'' is a British series of children's books by English author Roger Hargreaves which began publication in August 1971. From 1981, an accompanying series of Little Miss books by the same author (but with female characters) was published. ...

series of children's books. The younger Hargreaves reputedly served as inspiration for the series. At the age of 8, he asked his father "What does a

tickle Tickling is the act of touching a part of a body in a way that causes involuntary twitching movements or laughter. The word evolved from the Middle English ''tikelen'', perhaps frequentative of ''ticken'', to touch lightly. In 1897, psycholo ...

look like?", and Roger was inspired by that question to create the first book, ''

Mr. Tickle ''Mr. Tickle'' is the first book in the '' Mr. Men'' series by Roger Hargreaves which was published on 10 August 1971. The character of the story was originally based on a question by his son Adam Hargreaves, who asked him what a tickle would l ...

'', published in August 1971.

Biography

Hargreaves took over the Mr Men and Little Miss cartoon empire after his father's death in 1988, despite initially thinking the series "embarrassing" and "a bit clichéd" and contemplating a life as a farmer. At the time he had worked on an arable and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

farm in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

and, after taking a course at Plumpton Agricultural College in 1984, as a dairyman. He then visited Australia for four months, where he met the woman he married in 1987. When his father died following a series of strokes in 1988, Hargreaves took up the self-run business as his brother Giles pursued a career in advertising and his twin sisters Sophie and Amelia were yet too young. Attempting to assume his father's art style took "years of trial and error", even after completing a foundation course at Brighton Art College. He said that as he taught himself to draw like his father he started to have respect for what the latter had done. He understood his father's sense of humour and that what made the books and the characters so successful is that they are about universal human emotions and the books have a strong sense of morality. In 2004, the family sold the rights to the

to entertainment group

Chorion The chorion is the outermost fetal membrane around the embryo in mammals, birds and reptiles (amniotes). It develops from an outer fold on the surface of the yolk sac, which lies outside the zona pellucida (in mammals), known as the vitell ...

for £28 million, but Hargreaves remains the public face of the franchise and continues to invent new characters.

Stella McCartney Stella Nina McCartney (born 13 September 1971) is an English fashion designer. She is a daughter of British singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and the late American photographer and animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Like her parents, McCa ...

commissioned him to create ''Little Miss Stella'' for the invitations to her 2006 fashion show. For the series' 40-year anniversary in 2011 he released ''Little Miss Princess'' just in time for the

royal wedding ''Royal Wedding'' is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen, and starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Set in 1947 London at the time of the wedding of Princess Eli ...

. Although best known for continuing the Mr. Men series, Hargreaves has a lifelong passion for painting. In 2017, he created a character called Mr. Isle of Man for the island's annual literature festival.Mr Isle of Man
BBC News, 3 October 2017 His works can be found in several art galleries.

References

External links

Fairfax Gallery - Adam Hargreaves, exhibits and biographical

Hill & Hill Gallery - Adam Hargreaves case study and showcase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hargreaves, Adam 1963 births Living people English cartoonists English children's writers English illustrators People from Surrey

Biography

See also

References

External links