Books
The Viral Little Miss Franchise Is Focusing On Mental Health Next
Introducing books such as Be Kind and Try Again.
The original creators of Little Miss and Mr. Men — the characters that set off the viral TikTok and Instagram memes — definitely took note of how the squiggly yellow creatures ironically became Gen Z’s key to emotional therapy. And in turn, they have launched Mr. Men Little Miss Discover You, a series of 10 children’s books that tackle emotional wellbeing through their iconic characters.
Mr. Men Little Miss has already released four titles from the collection: Try Again, Be Kind, Worries, and All Different to highlight the importance of resilience, humility, peace of mind, and diversity. An NHS study from 2017 that the brand references found that one in 18 pre-schoolers are impacted by mental health problems, and this has only been worsened by lockdowns. The Discover You series hopes to help parents and guardians walk their children through various emotions and unpack big changes in their lives.
The writers worked closely with Dr. Elizabeth Kilbey, a children’s clinical psychologist, to curate the stories for kids over the age of three. Kilbey also provides tools for parents to strengthen their kids’ relationship with reading through videos on the Mr. Men Little Miss website. While these quirky characters were originally crafted in 1971 by Roger Hargreaves, over the decades they have grown into a millennial fad with a host of merchandise boasting Little Miss Sunshine or Little Miss Bossy tags.
In April 2022, Instagram meme creator @juulpuppy created the first Little Miss meme as we know it today. using witty self-aware labels like “Little Miss Neurodivergent Stripper.” The post prompted over 400,000 users to create and repost their own versions.
Priced at £4.99 each, four of the ten books are now available for purchase on Amazon, WH Smith, and Waterstones. The remaining six titles will be published in 2023.
