Happy Birthday Mr. Men!

Today is the birthday of Roger Hargreaves, who would have been 76 today. Though his name is not well known, his pen and imagination continue to be beloved by children worldwide.

Hargreaves was the creator of a series of the whimsical Mr. Men children’s books which have been delighting readers worldwide since the first was released in 40 years ago.

Mr. Bump, Mr. Tickle, Mr. Lazy and others in the Mr. Men series first went on sale in 1971. They were an overnight success and had sold over a million copies in the first year. At their 40th anniversary, they have now sold over 100 million copies worldwide.

Today Google honors Hargreaves and the Mr. Men books. Visiting the Google home page you will encounter one of several Hargreaves-inspired doodles. Click on the illustration and get Google’s results for the search term: Roger Hargreaves.

But don’t think that Mr. Men would have been forgotten without Google. Not only do the books continue to sell briskly, 20th Century Fox and the people who brought you Horton Hears a Who and Ice Age are currently working on an animated feature featuring the Mr. Men characters.