Mr Tickle 50th Anniversary 

Roger Hargreaves & Adam Hargreaves

Penguin, 2021

40pp., hbk., RRP $A16.99

9781761042157

Fifty years ago, a little boy asked his father, “What does a tickle look like?”  That question led to the writing of Mr Tickle and that led a whole series of  84 little books, just the right size for little children’s hands, that are as popular today as they were then.  Mr Men and Little Miss  are embedded in the reading of children the world over, and now, all those years on, not only are we celebrating the birth of Mr Tickle and all the others, but that little boy is now writing the stories following the death of his father.

But this isn’t just the original little book with a fancy gold cover – this one also tells the story of that little boy’s conversation with his dad and how, after a long walk and a long think, he was able to answer that question. From his pen emerged a character who was small and round and who had arms that could stretch and stretch, perfect for tickling.  And reaching out 50 years later to embrace a whole new generation of readers…