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Further information about the creators of Topsy and Tim
Jean and Gareth Adamson, creators of the famous Topsy and Tim series met whilst studying art and illustration at Goldsmiths College in the 1950s.
Jean was born in Peckham on 29th February 1928. After attending grammar school until the age of 16, she graduated to Goldsmiths college to study illustration. Gareth Adamson was born on 10th May 1926 in Liverpool and was evacuated to Northumberland during the war. He suffered ill health during his childhood and was in hospital for two years, where he spent most of his time writing stories. After leaving school at age of 14, Gareth returned to Northumberland to continue his creative work by joining an advertising agency.
Jean continued to teach illustration and design at Goldsmiths and also did work for a large animation company. Advertising campaigns she worked on included illustations for the Birds Custard and VAT 69 accounts.
Jean and Gareth met again in London and married in 1957. Having moved to Newcastle they decided to work together on children’s books and find an agent. “I would do the basic subject research and layout,” says Jean, “and I would sketch out the bare bones of the plot. Gareth would then take over and produce a beautifully crafted storyline. I would then do the illustrations. We made a very good team.” Publishers Blackie expressed interested in taking them on.
At the time, there were many of the less realistic children’s characters on the market (Andy Pandy, Noddy, Thomas the Tank Engine), as well as lots of books about dragons and witches. By contrast, Jean wanted to create a modern children’s look in keeping with the predominant mood of the early 60s - fresh and modern with a bright, contemporary feel - which showed children in situations they would actually experience.
For his part, Gareth was fascinated by the different reactions that young children would have to their surroundings. He learnt that children’s feelings about rain, thunder or lightening might be quite unexpected. Being something of a naughty child himself he also wanted to echo children’s feelings towards authority – to being told that they had to do something. Jean had to ensure that Gareth did not always give what she calls the ‘juicy bits’ to Tim, which he was inclined to do – Topsy had to have a share of the naughtiness too!
The result was a delightful series of stories about two ‘real life’ twins whose lives would reflect those of their young readers. The fact that the characters were twins allowed for different opinions and reactions to situations so the books would have more layers than a simple story. It also ensured that the stories would appeal equally to girls and boys. Jean drew the original illustrations straight onto a tiny mock up book (no bigger than 2 x 2 inches) so that she was not tempted to overcomplicate the drawings – there simply would not have been enough space.
Blackie were delighted with the response to the first book, ‘Monday’ and commissioned a full ‘days of the week’ series. The books were full colour all the way through and were sold in hardback. The series went from strength to strength and soon the publishers were requesting different types of books in varying formats. Topsy and Tim began to have more exciting adventures including sailing, riding and hill-walking – each activity and situation was carefully researched by Jean and Gareth. Activity and learning books were soon to follow.
During this busy time, Gareth and Jean had three children who enjoyed and influenced the series. When the family went to a safari park Jean would see how the children reacted to the animals and her observations would be mirrored in the book (for example when one of the tigers licked the window of the car, far from being afraid, the children were delighted, as shown in ‘Topsy and Tim go the Safari Park’
Over 130 Topsy and Tim titles have been published in many different formats. With sales of more than 21 million copies (over a million copies have been sold in the UK since 1998 alone) the series has never been out of print in one form or another.
Gareth died in 1982 but Jean continues to be involved in the Topsy and Tim publishing programme. Now a grandmother, she still sketches the rough concepts for a designer to illustrate up to artwork stage as well as having an input into the final designs - her work was recently recognised in the form of an MBE for services to children’s literature.
People – Life turns topsy-turvey for Jean
Topsy and Tim author Jean Adamson created the first of the popular children’s books 44 years ago, with the collaboration of her late husband. Now the series is being relaunched and will enchant a new generation.
Before J K Rowling there was Jean Adamson. One of the unsung heroes of childrens literature- and still going strong aged 74 – Jean is the woman behind the hugely popular Topsy and Tim books. Worldwide they have sold a Harry Potterish 21 million copies since Jean and her late husband and collaborator, Gareth, brought out the first title in 1959. Indeed, in 2000, Jean earned an MBE for her services to children’s literature (Gareth died in 1982). And next month, Topsy and Tim are set to dominate the book shelves once again in a major series relaunch.
Unlike J K Rowling though, Jean hasn’t earned a fortune. Thanks to a mix of 1950’s gentlemanly presumption of her first publishers that no one could need anything as vulgar as money for a job, and a husband who saw himself as rather financially astute (“so we always had a huge overdraft, which I hated”), it was only when Jean renegotiated her contract, a few years ago, that she finally got the deal the books’ giant sales merit. “But I’m not complaining my dear’, she says over tea in her cosy, antique-filled Cambridgeshire cottage, “I’m perfectly comfortable now”.
In the 44 years since the first Topsy and Tim book appeared, few libraries or book shops have been without at least a couple of the 100 titles. And next month, when 17 of the most popular books are relaunched, a new generation of children will be engaged by the invitingly clear type and jolly, all-is-well-in-the-world illustrations.
“Topsy a very modern girl, and if anyone cries, it’s always Tim, so the stories haven’t had to be changed”, Jean says. “When Gareth and I started work together, he was inclined to give Tim the juicy parts, and I had to say no. I’d had enough of weak and weepy girls in the books I read when I was a child in the 30’s”.
She and Gareth came up with the Topsy and Tim idea shortly after they got married in 1957. Jean grew up in Peckham South London, with her parents and two older brothers. Encouraged by her art teacher she got a scholarship in 1945 to London’s Goldsmiths College (“Which tickled mum and dad pink”), where she became friends with Gareth, an illustration student. After graduating Gareth went home to Alnwick, Northumberland, to work in an advertising agency Pearl and Dean. She lost contact with Gareth until he came down to visit an old pal, Henry, who was a friend of the girl she shared a flat with. “A day or two later, a letter dropped on the mat and even before I opened it, I thought, “I’m going to marry him” says Jean.
Once married, Jean moved up to Alnwick, where the couple were determined to use there training and talents to create children’s books – Jean doing the story outlines and illustrations, and Gareth , who was also a writer, the words. When an agent, to whom they had sent a sample of there work, told them that the publishers Blackie were looking for a series to replace the Flower Fairies, they came up with an idea that would explain the world through twins, “one boy, one girl, both equal”.
In an era when Enid Blyton ruled the young children’s books depicted a whimsical world inhabited by Andy Pandy and Noddy, the Adamson’s brightness and realism matched the fresh post-war spirit. The first Topsy and Tim book was the Monday Book – about Tim refusing to wear his wellington boots. It sold encouragingly well, and over the next 20 years – during which they had three children and moved to Cambridgeshire in 1969 – the couple worked in happy harmony. “I worked at the kitchen table, and Gareth worked in this old caravan in the garden, or, after he’d bought an antiquarian bookshop in Newmarket, in the office there,” says Jean. “Sometimes he wouldn’t even open the shop because he said the customers disrupted his concentration”.
When Gareth died, six weeks after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour – which he, ever jaunty, had hoped would respond to treatment – Jean simply carried on doing everything herself. “Over the years, we’d swapped roles a couple of times for our own amusement, so it was quite easy” she says. “And in that sort of miserable situation work keeps you sane”. The photo of Gareth on the kitchen wall is one Jean took a fortnight before he died. She continued turning out two titles a year, keeping his names on the books “as a memorial”, and six years ago she secure that lucrative contract they so deserved.
Her three children – Leo, Kate, and Gabrielle – are now in their late thirties and she’s got four grandchildren, whom Gareth sadly never saw. In due course, they will all share the copyright and now substantial royalties from sales of the books.
These days, work on the books takes up just an hour or two a day. “So with marvellous assistants, I’ve started running Topsy and Tim days at Ely Cathedral, which have had terrific feedback. And for the first time in my life I’ve started going on holidays. Somehow Gareth and I could not afford to go away. I went to Greece year with the local women’s institute. It was absolutely brilliant!” She’s sad Gareth couldn’t share in the MBE. “My old dad would have been so proud of that. Very nice meeting the Queen – although I was petrified weeks before about what I should wear! Pitiful isn’t it?”