The Little Miss Collection

Celebrating girl power!

Radhika Ghosh
2 min readJul 14, 2024
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Emotions and behaviours — these are the two important aspects that create the personality of human beings. Roger Hargreaves' classic Little Miss series explores these very two factors that play a dominant role in our lives. Filled with fun and amusement, the Little Miss collection tells the tales of 36 extraordinary women with their particular quirkiness, idiosyncracies and qualities that make them different from one another.

A copywriter in his early career, Hargreaves turned towards creating the first Mr Men character (Mr Tickle) inspired by his little son’s demand to know and understand what a tickle is. What followed is the creation of the fabulously funny and entertaining Mr Men series and its eventual counterpart — the Little Miss. In 1981, for the first time, the world saw the introduction of Miss Bossy, Miss Naughty and Miss Sunshine — the flagbearers of the following 33 books of the series.

Perfect for toddlers, the books are interactive and entertaining with brightly coloured images, minimalist backgrounds and cartoonish figures. There is a wide variety of characters with their iconic personality and specific visual representation. From Miss Neat and Miss Giggles to Miss Helpful and Miss Shy — the little girls in these books serve as the protagonists of tales that are humourous and relatable to kids.

With most of the stories having a proper beginning, middle and end and a good conflict to keep the readers engaged — the tales challenge orthodox perspectives in a fun-filled and light-hearted way. You can finish the entire series in a single sitting, bearing in your hearts Hargreaves’ subtle messages gently wrapped around the characters and the world around them.

Following Farshore’s publication of the series, the books have inspired numerous brands and merchandise and have become an integral part of pop culture in the UK. However, recent studies have discovered that in some stories the plots could have been more layered and less gendered. Keeping that aside, you can grab this entire collection if you want to read about the Little Miss universe where craziness and nonsense persist but with a touch of humanity.

Further readings:

Mr Men Little Miss

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