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Roger Hargreaves Facts

Roger Hargreaves Facts
Roger Hargreaves was an English writer and illustrator best known for his children's series Mr. Men and Little Miss. He was born Charles Roger Hargreaves on May 9th, 1935 in Yorkshire, England, to Alfred Reginald Hargreaves, a Laundromat owner, and Ethel Mary Hargreaves. Roger worked for his father for a year before finding employment in advertising. Although Roger had wanted to become a cartoonist, his career as a children's writer began when his first book Mr. Tickle was published. Although he had difficulty finding a publisher in the beginning, once his Mr. Men books were released they were an instant hit and he sold more than one million copies in only three years.
Interesting Roger Hargreaves Facts:
Roger Hargreaves grew up at 703 Halifax Road in High Lees. Today there is a plaque in his honor outside the building in Cleckheaton.
Roger wrote the first Mr. Men book titled Mr. Tickle while he was working at a London advertising firm.
The Mr. Men series was so popular that in 1974 it was turned into an animated TV series on the BBC.
Roger Hargreaves quit his day job in 1976, to focus on his new career as a children's author.
In 1981 Roger Hargreaves launched his second series Little Miss.
In 1983 the Little Miss series was adapted into a TV series.
Roger Hargreaves married Christine and together they had four children: Adam, Giles, Sophie, and Amelia. Sophie and Amelia are twins.
It has been said that Roger's inspiration for the Mr. Men series occurred when his son Adam asked him what a tickle looked like, and in response Roger drew the character that became Mr. Tickle.
Roger's twins Sophie and Amelia were the inspiration for his Little Miss Twins series.
Roger Hargreaves wrote several children's books series including Mr. Men (49 books), Little Miss (33 books), Walter Worm, John Mouse, Albert Elephant, Count Worm and Grandfather Clock, I am..., Timbuctoo (25 books), Hippo Potto and Mouse, Easy Peasy People, and Roundy and Squarey.
Roger Hargreaves appears as a character in some of his own books including Mr. Small and Little Miss Star.
The Mr. Men characters have been marketed on a variety of items including food containers, and T-shirts. In total they have appeared on more than 700 products.
Roger Hargreaves two most popular series Mr. Men and Little Miss have sold more than 85 million copies around the world. They have been translated into 20 languages worldwide.
Roger Hargreaves died suddenly from a stroke on September 11th, 1988 at the young age of 53. At the time of his death he had been living in Sussex in Kent with his wife and children.
Roger's son Adam also became a writer and added his own books to his father's Mr. Men and Little Miss series.
Christine Hargreaves sold the rights to Roger Hargreaves' Mr. Men characters in 2004 to Chorion Limited, a UK media production company that also owned the rights to Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit, Gaspard and Lisa, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, bought the rights to Mr. Men. They paid her £28 million.


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