Plenty of fun at royal party

The latest Little Miss Princess book has had a Royal make-over to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Little Miss Princess And the Very Special Party – by Alan Hargreaves, the son of Cleckheaton-born Mr Men creator Roger Hargreaves – is the first book from the Little Princess stable to feature the Queen’s favourite four-legged friend, a corgi.

Adam Hargreaves, author and illustrator of the Mr Men and Little Miss books, says: “It’s not the first time a dog has appeared in the Mr Men and Little Miss books, but it is definitely the first appearance of a corgi!

“I am thrilled that the Mr Men and Little Misses will be marking the jubilee in this brand new story and I had great fun writing and illustrating it.

“The Mr Men love a bit of a bash and what better way to celebrate the jubilee than with a fun street party?”

Adam is carrying on the legacy of his late father. Born in a private hospital in Bath Road, Cleckheaton, Roger Hargreaves grew up in the town.

He created the Mr Men characters when Adam, then aged six, asked him to describe a tickle, spawning ‘Mr Tickle’ one of many characters to appear in the books which continue to entertain generations of youngsters.

Adam took over writing and illustrating the popular Mr Men series following his father’s untimely death in 1988.

Little Miss Princess made her debut for last year’s royal wedding. Described as a “true Royal at heart”, she has a golden crown, she travels by carriage, sits in a throne and even has her very own corgi.

The new book is described as a “right Royal giggle” and from start to finish, my young daugher Katy and I found it packed full of fun, with favourite Mr Men and Little Miss characters and plenty of silly mishaps along the way.

Little Miss Helpful does her best to organise a special party for the guest of honour, but being no good at organising things, it soon starts to go wrong, especially when Little Miss Naughty gets involved.

Mr Tickle’s stretchy arms come in particularly useful for stringing up bunting and there’s a surprise in store from Little Miss Naughty’s mischievous seating plan.

Little Miss Princess was the 34th book in the series, and was launched last March. She was the first new Little Miss addition in eight years, since 2003 when Little Miss Whoops, Little Miss Scary and Little Miss Bad were published. Also published last year was Little Miss Princess And The Very Special Wedding, a colouring and sticker book to celebrate the royal wedding.

To date, almost two hundred million Mr Men and Little Miss books have been sold worldwide and more than three million Mr Men and Little Miss books are sold every year in the UK alone.