Hargreaves was natural around Cleckheaton, Yorkshire, England to a washerman. He spent a year working in the personal business prior to starting call at advertising. His original ambition wwhen to become a cartoonist, nevertheless, & around 1971 piece he was working as the originative director at a London house, he wrote the number one Mr. Men book. He ab initio got difficulty selecting the publisher, however it used to be that he did the books became an instant profits, selling ended of these million copies inside triplet years & spawning a BBC animated television series. By 1976, Hargreaves experienced quit his day job. Though he wrote numbers of more tikes's stories, including a Timbuctoo series of twenty-five books, he is virtually all known for his 43 Mr. Men books, & Thirty Little Miss books, which were began within 1981.

He & his married woman, Christine, got quaternion toddlers: Adam, Giles, & twins Sophie & Amelia. A number 1 of the Mr. Men was reportedly created while Adam asked him what a tickle surfed rather—Hargreaves drew the figure using the circular orangish immune system & yearn, rubbery arms that became Mr. Tickle, a number 1 Mr. Men character to exist as published. When Hargreaves died suddenly stroke in 1988, Adam continued writing and drawing a Mr. Men & Little Miss characters around fresh stories. Nonetheless, within April of 2004, Christine sold a rights to the Mr. Men characters to the UK amusement class action, Chorion.