Roger Hargreaves writing and drawing the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters with new stories (while signing the covers in his father's signature). However, in April 2004 Hargreaves's widow Christine sold the rights to the Mr. Men characters to the UK entertainment group Chorion, for £28 million. Hargreaves and his wife had four children: Adam, Giles and twins Sophie and Amelia. The first of the Mr. Men characters is reported to have been created when Adam, at age 6, asked his father what a tickle looked like. Hargreaves drew a figure with a round orange body and long rubbery arms, which became
Roger Hargreaves up at 703 Halifax Road, Hartshead Moor, Cleckheaton, outside of which there now is a commemorative plaque. Hargreaves attended Sowerby Bridge Grammar School (now Trinity Academy Sowerby Bridge). He then spent a year working in his father's laundry and dry-cleaning business before gaining employment in advertising. His original ambition was to be a cartoonist, and in 1971, while working as the creative director at a London firm, he wrote the first Mr. Men book, "Mr. Tickle". Initially he had difficulty finding a publisher, but once he did the books became an instant success, selling over one million copies within three