'Like father like son: Adam Hargreaves picked up where his 'Mr Men' creator father left off

After inspiring his dad to create the Mr Men series, Adam Hargreaves took over the iconic books when his father died at a tragically young age, writes Esther McCarthy

EVERY parent has experienced it — that awkward question from a curious child that leaves them stumped for a plausible answer. In the case of a young Adam Hargreaves, however, it was the question that fired his father’s imagination, and changed the course of children’s fiction-book history.

After asking his father, Roger, “What does a tickle look like?”, Roger set about creating a character called Mr Tickle. It was 1971, and for the entrepreneur who was looking to escape the commute to London, where he worked as an advertising copywriter, it was the beginning of the Mr Men and Little Miss series.