Mr Men for Grown-Ups coming this autumn

Egmont is launching a new Mr Men and Little Miss for Grown-Ups series aimed at the adult gifting market.

Following on the back of Michael Joseph's success with the Ladybird for Grown Ups series by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris in 2015 and Quercus' Five Go Enid Blyton for Grown Ups set by Bruno Vincent, Egmont's Mr Men and Little Miss spoof series will cover topics of online dating, clean eating and office parties.

The four parody titles - Little Miss Shy Goes Online Dating, Mr. Greedy Eats Clean to Get Lean, Mr. Happy and the Office Party and Little Miss Busy Surviving Motherhood - will be published on 2nd November 2017 in hardback retailing at £5.99. They have been created in partnership with the Hargreaves estate and Mr. Men and Little Miss brand owner, Sanrio.

The Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups took the charts by storm in the run up to Christmas in 2015. They have so far sold 4.2m books for £22m (across 21 different titles) with How it Works: The Husband the frontrunner at 505,313 copies shifted. The Five Go books have shifted 975,078 for £5.09m, across eight titles, with the biggest seller Five on Brexit Island, which just missed out on Christmas number one last year with 398,658 copies sold.

An Egmont spokesperson said: “The Mr Men have been tickling children for generations with their funny and charming antics. The Mr Men for Grown-Ups series now gives adults the chance to laugh along as the Mr Men and Little Miss try and cope with the very grown-up world around them.”

The books feature original classic artwork by Roger Hargreaves alongside new text written by Sarah Daykin, Lizzie Daykin and Liz Bankes. The books will launch with a comprehensive marketing and PR campaign this autumn, Egmont said.

John Packard, publishing director for brands and licensing at Egmont added: “We are absolutely delighted to be publishing our new official series of Mr. Men and Little Miss titles for this Christmas, bringing these much-loved characters to an older audience as they brave the adult world.”

Little Miss Shy Goes Online Dating explores what happens when the bookish character reluctantly goes digital to meet her "Mr Right" while Mr Greedy Eats Clean to Get Lean is described as “the perfect book for anyone who's ever tried to kick start their life with a diet which promises a new improved you”.

In Mr Happy and the Office Party the optimistic character is faced with “difficult colleagues and hours of small talk” and Little Miss Busy Surviving Motherhood explores the “trials and tribulations of the wonderful and exasperating world of parenthood”.

Adam Hargreaves took over the multi-million selling Mr Men and Little Miss series after his father’s death in 1988.

More than 19 million Mr Men and Little Miss books by Roger Hargreaves have been sold from the series for £38.7m according to Nielsen BookScan.