Two new characters have been added to the popular Mr. Men and Little Miss series of children’s books. Mr. Fib and Little Miss Surprise are the first new characters to be added to the series since Mr. Calm and Little Miss Brave were added in 2021 for the 50th anniversary of the first book.
Originally created by British writer Roger Hargreeves in 1971 with ‘Mr. Tickle’, inspired by his son Adam. Between 1971 and 1988, Roger wrote and illustrated the series, adding the Little Miss series from 1981. After his death in 1988, his son Adam took over writing and illustrating duties.
“It all started with a tickle. Roger Hargreaves’ son Adam asked him what a tickle looked like. In response, Roger drew a small orange man with extraordinarily long arms that could reach anywhere and tickle anyone. Mr. Tickle was born and Mr. Greedy, Mr. Happy, Mr. Nosey, Mr. Sneeze and Mr. Bump soon followed. The books were an instant hit and Roger went on to create many more Mr. Men and Little Miss characters which have been delighting children and adults for generations,” the publisher HarperCollins has said.
“Mr. Fib and Little Miss Surprise will join the classic range on 12th September 2024, over fifty years after Mr.Tickle, the very first Mr. Men book was published. This isn’t one of Mr. Fib’s tall tales as he’s really part of the gang and Little Miss Surprise is surprised and delighted to be joining them too!” the statement reads.
Adam Hargreeves noted his enjoyment in carrying on his father’s legacy, “although I’ve got a way to go to catch up with my dad,” he joked. “ A Mr. Fib has been rattling around in my imagination for a long while and Little Miss Surprise, of course, popped into my head right out of the blue!"
There are over 90 Mr. Men and Little Miss characters in the range of popular books which have sold over 250 million copies in 17 languages. To celebrate the addition of these two new characters, here’s Euronews’ definitive (tongue-in-cheek) listing of the 10 Mr. Men and Little Miss characters which we believe have the worst vibes.
Mr. Christmas
Most Mr. Men characters are based around an adjective. Be it an emotional state (e.g. worry), an physical quality (e.g. small), or a personality attribute (e.g. funny), these characters are usually centred around adjectives as they are the basic building blocks of individual character. As children read these books, they see how these adjectives capture the myriad personalities of the human race.
Not Mr. Christmas. He’s based on a noun. And not just any noun. This character’s entire personality is the capitalist post-Christian hellscape that is Coca-Cola™’s Christmas. May I ask when we’ll be getting Mr. Chanukah and Mr. Ramadan? Seemingly, Mr. Christmas is popular enough they repeated the same idea almost identically with Little Miss Christmas. And don’t get me started on Mr. Snow.
Mr. Clumsy
If you just read his story, you’d be forgiven for appreciating Mr. Clumsy. Who, after all, can’t empathise with a poor sod who just can’t go through a day without breaking or knocking things over. I realised from a young age I wasn’t the sort to be trusted not to spill food all over myself at any given opportunity. Does it stop me buying loads of white tops, absolutely not.
Anyway, the message isn’t the issue with Herr. Clumsy. It’s the moustache. Look at it. Frayed, straggly and wiry. It looks more like the bristles of a sad toothbrush exploding from his nostrils. Horror upon horrors though if he dared to brush it. That is the distinctive styling of a man too unkempt to even keep a Hitler 'tache together.
Mr. Good
No one loves a suck up. “Excuse me sir, but I think you forgot to set any homework,” said the worst person in any classroom ever. Well, aside from the bullies but they’re hardly going to get a Mr. Men character dedicated to them.
Mr. Good shows how jarringly dull it is to be defined by being “good”. Much like when someone pines over a guy because he’s “nice”. You’re meant to be good. That’s the base level from which any decent human being begins. It’s not the be-all-end-all of personality traits. It’s therefore appropriate that Mr. Good is merely an outline with no colour to speak of. BLAND.
Mr. Nobody
Following on from the bland white background character that is Mr. Good, comes Mr. Nobody. Unlike Mr. Good, who lacks personality by virtue of his self-assessed virtuousness, Mr. Nobody is a sadder case. Literally invisible, Mr. Nobody isn’t a bad vibe in himself, but he does make me sad.
Seriously, it’s just upsetting that among a cast of characters including Mr. Tickle and Mr. Nonsense there’s a Mr. Nobody. Even the official website gives his three defining adjectives as nothing, zilch and zero. Someone please put him out of his misery and... erase him, I guess?
Mr. Calm
As part of the 50th anniversary of the series, a group of characters were suggested with the public voting on their favourites. Inexplicably, Mr. Calm was a winner of this competition. Monsieur Tranquille as he’s known in French loves the simple things in life, and who can blame him? We all need a bit more calm in our lives, don’t we?
For those that disagree, they might want to slap this smug Mr. Men around with his own sandals. Like anyone too obsessed with yoga and healthy living, Mr. Calm carries with him that self-satisfied look of a person who really wants you to know how much healthier their lifestyle is than yours. I’ll stick to my booze, cigarettes and permanent grimace, thank you.
Little Miss Bossy
Going through the Little Misses to find which five had the worst vibes, you realise just how much better the vibes are in the female category. Nevertheless, we shall press on. First up is Little Miss Bossy.
To clarify, she’s done nothing wrong. But starting off the Little Miss series with Little Miss Bossy in 1981 was hardly a win for feminism Roger. The series is better than it’s starting point, even if the story is a charming one.
Little Miss Splendid
Little Miss Splendid likes the best things in life. She likes shopping, fine dining, immaculate clothes… and probably net zero immigration policies. Let’s be honest, Little Miss Splendid is a classic case of the rural right wing nutjob that has ruined most of European politics.
It only took seven of these characters for this to degenerate into class war. Still, Little Miss Splendid is noted to love shopping almost as much as she hates, immigrants, the gays, and communists. Not necessarily in that order.
Little Miss Twins
Evil. Pure evil.
No, I won't expand on this any further. I’m concerned the next room I go into they’ll be waiting for me if I do.
Little Miss Princess
Referring to my previous comments on Little Miss Splendid, this one is giving her same brand of conservatism with a healthy dose of royalist bootlicking. Have you noticed how flags of countries like England are hard to wave without looking like a crazy nationalist. If you ever want national pride in your flag like the French do, you need to take the important step of removing your monarch’s head first.
The job of beheading Mr. Men or Little Miss characters is somewhat complicated by them being almost exclusively made up of head. Still, don’t let practicalities get in the way of good republican execution fervour.
Little Miss Late
Look, we’ve all been late to things at some point. No one is above it. But while Little Miss Scatterbrain is a holistic approach to a personality type that just can’t get themselves together, Little Miss Late has made her whole thing just being late.
Sorry, but that’s not acceptable. If it’s the only facet in which you’re scatterbrained, frankly it shows that you don’t consider other people’s time seriously. In the bin with you, next to the royalists, Christmas lovers and twins.
