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 publisher Ladybird Books.
Adamson created the series, which follows the adventures of two twins and spawned more than 150 books, alongside her husband Gareth Adamson, who died in 1982.
A statement from her family read: “It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved 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 missed, but her memory will live on in the hearts of her family and all those she loved or that remember her through her stories.
“Although we will take this time to mourn her loss, we will also ensure to celebrate her remarkable life.”
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 design, and also met her husband at the college.
The pair married in 1957 and moved to Newcastle, where they began working on children’s books, and also created original animations for Yorkshire TV in the 1970s.
Jean was the gentlest of people, kind and modest, never letting her success change her way of life or how she viewed the world
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 style being bright, pared back and uncluttered.
“They made sure that the depictions of these first experiences were well-researched so that parents and children could trust them. And, unusually for the time, gave Topsy an equal role to play in the adventures as Tim.
“Jean will be greatly missed. She leaves behind a gift to children and their families in her greatest creations.”
The two characters first appeared in Topsy And Tim’s Monday Book, originally published by Blackie in 1960.
At the time it was unusual for ordinary children to be the lead characters in picture books, but the Adamsons said they put youngsters at the centre of the narrative “because all the world is magic for children”, and the choice of girl and boy twins was a way of ensuring gender equality.
The series has been in print for more than 60 years and has sold over 25 million copies around the world.
Since 1998, 1.9 million copies have been sold in the UK alone, while Ladybird re-released Topsy And Tim: On The Farm with the author’s original artwork in 2020 to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
In 1984, the book series was adapted into a 60-episode animated TV show, and since 2013 three seasons of a live-action version have broadcast on CBeebies, winning the Bafta Pre-school Live Action award in 2016. The series still regularly airs on CBeebies.
Adamson’s former agent, Mandy Little, said in a statement: “She never lost interest in the two little black-haired twins as they explored what the world had to offer over decades, making sure always that Topsy got as much of the action as Tim.
“They were close to her heart for, as she once told me, they were based on herself and her beloved brother Derek, who were inseparable as children.
“Jean was the gentlest of people, kind and modest, never letting her success change her way of life or how she viewed the world.
“Meetings at her house were always very relaxed and her sense of what was important in life meant that they could be fun as well as business-like, and Daphne the greyhound usually sat in the biggest 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.
During her early days, she also worked as a freelance artist and illustrator, as well as a spell in the advertising industry.
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