Part of Series
Mr. Happy is a very happy sort of a person, and wishes for everyone to be happy. When he is out for his walk in the woods, he meets Mr. Grumble, who is fishing and grumbling. Mr. Happy asks why he is doing this. Mr. Grumble responds by saying that he needs something to do as a hobby. Mr. Happy offers to help out finding Mr. Grumble a hobby he likes doing. They meet Mr. Rush who likes to go fast in his car, but Mr. Grumble hates going fast. Then they meet Little Miss Giggles who loves giggling! They go to the circus to see the clowns, but Mr. Grumble doesn't find them funny. Then they try on fancy hats with Little Miss Splendid, play practical jokes with Mr. Mischief, bounce with Mr. Bounce, and look through keyholes with Mr. Nosey, but try as they cannot find a hobby! After a long day of not finding a hobby, Mr. Happy meets Mr. Impossible who asks his advice for the best hobby Mr. Grumble. Mr. Impossible says it would be impossible, and Mr. Grumble storms off home. The next day, Mr. Happy had finally got an idea! He runs off to see Mr. Grumble and tells him to take up fishing as a hobby, and what does Mr. Grumble do best? He enjoys to grumble! And that makes him happy!
Author
Charles Roger Hargreaves was an English author and illustrator of children's books, notably the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, intended for very young readers. He is Britain's third best-selling author, having sold more than 100 million books. Hargreaves was born in a private hospital at 201 Bath Road, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, England, to Alfred Reginald and Ethel Mary Hargreaves, and grew up in High Lees, 703 Halifax Road, also in Cleckheaton, outside of which there now is a commemorative plaque. He spent a year working in his father's laundry and dry-cleaning business before starting out in advertising. But his original ambition was to be a cartoonist; and, in 1971, while he was working as the creative director at a London firm, he wrote the first Mr. Men book, Mr. Tickle. He initially had difficulty finding a publisher; but, once he did, the books became an instant success, selling over one million copies within three years and spawning a BBC animated television series, narrated and voiced by Arthur Lowe. By 1976, Hargreaves had quit his day job. In 1981, the Little Miss series of books began to appear. It, too, was made into a television series in 1983, which was narrated by John Alderton, who, with Pauline Collins, voiced the Men and Misses, respectively. Although Hargreaves wrote many other children's stories, including the Timbuctoo series of twenty-five books, John Mouse, and the Roundy and Squary books, he is best known for his 46 Mr. Men books and 33 Little Miss books. With his wife, Christine, Hargreaves 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 asked his father what a tickle looked like: Hargreaves drew a figure with a round orange body and long, rubbery arms, which became Mr. Tickle. After Hargreaves died of a sudden stroke in 1988, Adam continued writing and drawing the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters in new stories. However, in April 2004, Christine sold the rights to the Mr. Men characters to the UK entertainment group Chorion, for £28 million.
