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Adam Hargreaves

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Adam Hargreaves
Born (1963-06-18) 18 June 1963 (age 61)
Surrey, England
OccupationAuthor, illustrator
Years active1988–present
ParentRoger Hargreaves (father)

Adam Hargreaves (born 18 June 1963) is an English author and illustrator. The son of Roger Hargreaves, he continues his father's successful Mr. Men series of children's books.[1] The younger Hargreaves reputedly served as inspiration for the series. At the age of 8, he asked his father "What does a tickle look like?", and Roger was inspired by that question to create the first book, Mr. Tickle, published in August 1971.[2]

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.[3] At the time he had worked on an arable and beef farm in Sussex 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.[4] 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.[3]

In 2004, the family sold the rights to the Mr. Men to entertainment group Chorion for £28 million, but Hargreaves remains the public face of the franchise and continues to invent new characters. Stella McCartney 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.

Although best known for continuing the Mr. Men series, Hargreaves has a lifelong passion for painting.[5] In 2017, he created a character called Mr. Isle of Man for the island's annual literature festival.[6] His works can be found in several art galleries.

See also

References

  1. ^ BBC News:Oakes, K. Happy Birthday to the Mr Men, 4 April 2006 Archived 27 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Tait, Amelia (18 August 2021). "How the Mr Men made their millions". New Statesman. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b Cavendish, Lucy (6 August 2011). "Adam Hargreaves: 'The Mr Men will always be part of me'". The Telegraph.
  4. ^ Wintle, Angela (20 February 2013). "Interview with Adam Hargreaves - Mr Men Illustrator and Writer". Sussex Life. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Adam Hargreaves". Hill & Hill Gallery. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  6. ^ Mr Isle of Man, BBC News, 3 October 2017
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