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As the Mr Men series of books turns 40, the son of author Roger Hargreaves has revealed that a simple breakfast chat gave rise to the idea of the bestselling childrens books.

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What makes the Mr. Men and Little Miss books so timelessly successful? As Adam Hargreaves, son of Roger (the creator of the 'Mr. Men' phenomenon) explains, it's the simple yet universally appealing story behind the character that makes them work.

The Telegraph reported this week on the 40th Anniversary of the Mr. Men and Little Miss books, written by Roger Hargreaves. Adam, his son claims that it was a simple conversation over breakfast that started the train of thought in his father's head and the first story about Mr. Tickle was born.

'What does a tickle look like anyway?' asked 8 year old Adam. The yellowy orange rounded figure of Mr. Tickle was born with extraordinarily long and tickly arms. Others characters followed soon after and soon the bold colours and simple artwork became a trademark of the Mr. Men family and brought huge success for Roger Hargreaves.

Roger Hargreaves wrote 46 Mr. Men books in total and 33 Little Miss books, each one telling a simple and humorous tale about the trait in each character's name. The books originally cost just 15p each and were an instant hit making Hargreaves the UK's third best-selling author.

Adam Hargreaves now runs the Mr. Men business since his father's death in 1988 and has learnt the skills needed to continue the story writing tradition and the style of illustration needed to continue the Mr. Men for years to come.

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