Charles Roger Hargreaves, born in 1935, was an English author and illustrator of children’s books. He was born in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, England. His parents were Alfred Reginald who owned a Laundromat and mother Ethel Mary Hargreaves was a housewife. Hargreaves worked in his father’s Laundromat and dry cleaning business. He then started working in advertising and was the creative director in an advertising firm in London.
Hargreaves actually wanted to become a cartoonist but that did not work out however he wrote his first book of ‘Mr. Men’ called ‘Mr. Tickle’ in 1971. The inspiration of this book was an innocent question asked by his son Adam Hargreaves that was ‘What does a tickle look like?’ He then drew a figure in orange color with floppy arms and round body to represent a tickle. Hargreaves had some problems finding a publisher but once he did success was inevitable. Including in the series are ‘Mr. Greedy, Mr. Nosey, Mr. Happy and Mr. Sneeze. Mr. Men series has 49 books in it. The first books of the series were published in the UK. The stories of these books are simple and illustrated in brightly colored pictures. His books became instant hits selling more than a million copies within 3 years. This series of books was also made into an animated TV series in 1975. Its narrator was Arthur Lowe. In 1981 Hargreaves’s book ‘Little Miss’ was instigated. It consisted of 33 books. Books from this series are Little Miss Bossy and the renowned Little Miss Naughty. This series was also produced into a TV series this time narrated by John Alderton.
He is the third bestselling author and has sold hundred million books. He also wrote another notable series of books called the ‘Timbuctoo’ series. It consists of twenty five books. Other books include are ‘John Mouse’ and ‘Roundy and Squary’ books. His books have stood the test of time and are still one of the most popular children’s books of all times. Some other books written by him are the series ‘Walter Worm’, ‘Albert Elephant, Count Worm and Grandfather Clock’, ‘I am…’, ‘Easy Peasy People’and ‘Hippo Potto and Mouse’. His books have been translated in twenty different languages and have been sold all over the world. His series ‘Timbuctoo’ consists of twenty five books but he is most famous for his Mr. Men and Little Miss series.
His wife’s name is Christine and they have 4 children with names ‘Adam, Giles, and also the twins Sophie and Amelia’. The twins were inspirations for his books Little Miss Twins. He lived with is family at their home in Sussex in Cowden in Kent. Roger Hargreaves died on 11th September 1988 due to a sudden stroke. His son Adam Hargreaves is also a writer and he has taken over the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters in new stories. His wife sold the rights of the Mr. Men characters in April 2004 to Chorion which is an entertainment group.
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