Growing up I was an avid reader and used to love bedtime when my Mum used to come in each night and read me a bedtime story, one of my favourites being the Mr Men and little Miss stories. Looking back I realise how important sharing this experience with my mum was for my education and development. It also played a massive part in my parenting as I have carried on this tradition with my children, and I have seen the delight on their faces every night getting cosy under the duvet with milk and a cookie and having me read them some of my favourite stories from my childhood and a few of their choices too!
Mr Men & Little Miss series
I can not believe that this year is the 45th anniversary of Mr Men & Little Miss, I remember going to my favourite book shop as a child as you couldn’t shop on-line when I was younger, which my boys are amazed about as they can not remember a time without the Internet!
My Mum used to let me get a new Mr Men or little Miss book each week to read together or on my own as I got a little older. They were always displayed on a carousel, which I used to love swirling around and choosing my next book. I must admit I always preferred the Mr Men books to the Little Miss, I don’t know why this is as they are both fantastic series, I suppose it just came down to personal choice and when I was a child they did seem to be more Mr Men stories available.
When I became all grown up and had my own children, I introduced them to the Mr Men & Little Miss books at a very young age and they became a firm favourite on their bookshelves too and were definitely easier to get hold of then when I was a child. We always picked up a new story each week from the supermarket whilst doing the weekly shop!
My two boys loved the fact I had saved my original Mr Men & Little Miss books and passed them down to them, they even had my name in the front saying this book belongs to Rachel Marsden in my 6-year-old handwriting, this brought back so many fond memories and my boys thought it was really strange thinking of me as a child.
Now my boys have grown into big boys, I hope they carry on this tradition when they become parents, I know I will when I become a grandparent with both my Mr Men & Little Miss books and the collection my boys have too.
It is lovely to see that the Mr Men & Little Miss series is so popular and now you can get magazines, even more stories and some fantastic merchandise that makes great gifts for fans young and old.
To celebrate the 45th Anniversary, visit the pop-up Mr Men & Little Miss Mini Museum exhibition on London’s South Bank in the last week of August, which will showcase rare and unusual memorabilia from the series. There is also a new Virtual Archive that is being built to allow fans to show off their collections online.
Who is your favourite Mr Men or Little Miss character?
*Disclaimer this is a collaborative post*
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