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Children’s author Jean Adamson, know for the Topsy And Tim series of books, has died aged 96, her family confirmed.
The family said they were announcing with ‘deep sorrow’ that the ‘devoted’ mother and author died on Sunday, in a statement released by Topsy And Tim writer Ladybird Books.
Adamson created the series, which follows the adventures of two twins and spawned extra than 150 books, alongside her husband Gareth Adamson, who died in 1982.
A statement from her family read: ‘It is far with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our loved Jean Adamson.
‘Jean was a devoted mother, grandmother, sister, author and great-grandmother, whose kindness and warmth touched the lives of all who knew her.
‘Her presence will be greatly overlooked, nonetheless her reminiscence will are living on in the hearts of her family and all those she liked or that bear in mind her by her stories.
‘Although we can take this time to mourn her loss, we can also make particular to celebrate her remarkable lifestyles.’
Born in Peckham, south-east London, in 1928, Adamson studied illustration at Goldsmiths College in London, and went on to teach there, specialising in illustration and acquire, and also met her husband at the faculty.
Children’s author Jean Adamson, know for the Topsy And Tim series of books, has died aged 96, her family confirmed
The family said they were announcing with ‘deep sorrow’ that the ‘devoted’ mother and author died on Sunday, in a statement released by Topsy And Tim writer Ladybird Books
The pair married in 1957 and moved to Newcastle, the place they began working on children’s books, and also created original animations for Yorkshire TV in the 1970s.
In a statement, Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children’s, which runs Ladybird, said: ‘Jean and her husband Gareth’s work was uncharacteristic of the time, with Jean’s art model being incandescent, pared back and uncluttered.
‘They made particular that the depictions of these first experiences were well-researched so that parents and children may well belief them. And, unusually for the time, gave Topsy an equal feature to play in the adventures as Tim.
‘Jean will be greatly overlooked. She leaves unhurried a present to children and their families in her greatest creations.’
The two characters first appeared in Topsy And Tim’s Monday E book, originally printed by Blackie in 1960.
At the time it was unusual for ordinary children to be the lead characters in image books, nonetheless the Adamsons said they set aside teenagers at the centre of the narrative ‘because all the arena is magic for children’, and the alternative of girl and boy twins was a way of guaranteeing gender equality.
The series has been in print for extra than 60 years and has purchased over 25million copies around the arena.
Since 1998, 1.9million copies have been purchased in the UK alone – with Ladybird re-releasing Topsy And Tim: On The Farm with the author’s original artwork in 2020 to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
Adamson created Topsy and Tim, which follows the adventures of two twins and spawned extra than 150 books, alongside her husband Gareth Adamson, who died in 1982
In 1984, the e book series was adapted into a 60-episode animated TV reveal, and since 2013 three seasons of a are living-action model have broadcast on CBeebies
In 1984, the e book series was adapted into a 60-episode animated TV reveal, and since 2013 three seasons of a are living-action model have broadcast on CBeebies, profitable the Bafta Pre-college Dwell Action award in 2016. The series composed regularly airs on CBeebies.
Adamson’s dilapidated agent, Mandy Itsy-bitsy, said in a statement: ‘She never lost hobby in the two cramped black-haired twins as they explored what the arena had to offer over decades, making particular always that Topsy got as a lot of the action as Tim.
‘They were shut to her heart for, as she once told me, they were based on herself and her loved brother Derek, who were inseparable as children.
‘Jean was the gentlest of other folks, form and modest, never letting her success change her way of lifestyles or how she viewed the arena.
‘Conferences at her dwelling were always very relaxed and her sense of what was important in lifestyles meant that they may be enjoyable as well as industrial-appreciate, and Daphne the greyhound usually sat in the largest chair.’
Adamson was made an MBE for her services to children’s literature in 1999, and in 2016 was made an honorary fellow of Goldsmiths College.
For the duration of her early days, she also labored as a freelance artist and illustrator, as well as working for a short duration in the advertising trade.
