How a question about a tickle sparked Mr Men series

One morning in 1971, eight-year-old Adam asked his dad: "What does a tickle look like?"

This was the moment copywriter Roger Hargreaves started thinking of the answer and then drew Mr Tickle, the first book in the Mr Men series - it sold a million copies in the first three years.

Adam, from Surrey, told BBC World Service that no-one wanted to publish it at first, until Hargreaves went to lunch with an old friend who had just set up a publishing company and the first six characters were launched, with Hargreaves drawing during his lunch breaks.

In 1981, the Little Miss characters were released with Hargreaves "catching up with the female side of the population"

Hargreaves died when he was 53, so at the age of 25, Adam, who was working in farming, stepped in to run the family business, but it took him a long time to pick up a pen and start drawing.

His said his favourite character was Mr Silly because it reminded him of his dad.

With a new TV series and film coming out, Adam said his father would be "incredibly chuffed, I mean really excited".

"To have Mr Men up on the big screen in the cinema, he would've been very, very happy to have seen that and it's terrible shame that he can't," he added.

"I think my dad's ambition was to make young children giggle - they are all about humour and turning the world upside down.

"He was always having creative ideas and he was ambitious."

The books were designed to be short and simple, which is the way Hargreaves wanted them, as books at the time were usually quite long.

The first six books were Mr Tickle, Mr Greedy, Mr Happy, Mr Nosey, Mr Sneeze and Mr Bump.

Mr Men was also made into a TV series, released on the BBC in 1974, narrated by English actor Arthur Lowe.

Adam added: "The series escalated the success and merchandise was made, as well as songs."

Correction 10 February: the article has been updated to reflect that the Mr Men characters were launched in 1971.

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