Jean Adamson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jean Adamson MBE
Adamson in 1957
Born	(1928-02-29)29 February 1928 Peckham, London, England
Died	15 December 2024(2024-12-15) (aged 96)
Occupation	Writer illustrator
Education	South London Emergency Grammar School
Alma mater	Goldsmiths, University of London
Period	1951–2024
Genre	Children's literature
Notable works	Topsy and Tim
Spouse	Gareth Adamson ​ ​ (m. 1957; died 1982)​

Jean Adamson, MBE (29 February 1928 – 15 December 2024) was a British writer and illustrator of children's books. She was best known for the Topsy and Tim books, the first of which was published in 1960 and which have sold 27 million copies. Adamson's creations were also featured widely on television in 84 episodes of Topsy and Tim.

Early life

Adamson was born in Peckham, London, on 29 February 1928. Her father, Charles Bailey, was a schoolmaster and a WW1 veteran, who worked with horses in the Honourable Artillery Company.

As a youngster in the 1930s, Adamson used to accompany her mother, Daisy, on weekly trips to Nunhead Library. In those days, the children’s books were hard to spot, as all the covers were routinely rebound. After discovering the children's section at the library, she was hooked. Adamson joined the library aged 8 or 9, and she worked her way through everything on offer, such as the Just William books, the Red, Blue, Green and Gold books of Fairy Stories, Milly, Molly Mandy, Hulme Beaman’s lovely Toy Town stories, & Wind in the Willows, finally graduating to Charles Dickens and the Brontes. She recalled that her father would take her for daily walks around the parks in Peckham. He would lift her up onto his shoulders and recite the Greek classics to her. Adamson also recalled that her father would read aloud William Blake's ‘The Tyger’ to her.

From an early age, Adamson had an inquisitive and creative mind and at Ivydale Primary School, her nickname was ‘magic fingers’, because she was good at drawing. “I spent a lot of time when I was a child, reading children’s picture books, peering at the illustrations and puzzling about how they were done. I added my own illustrations on the lovely, empty fly-leaves.” Her oldest surviving stories are from 1938, which she wrote at the age of 10. "Jimmy the Fox and the Fire" is her earliest surviving story. Adamson first became interested in writing for children when working in a creche during the Blitz at the age of 16. During the war, many teenage girls had to help in creches, so that their mothers could work in the munitions factories.

Education

School

Adamson attended Ivydale Primary School. In 1939, she won a scholarship to attend Grammar School, though like many other students, her education was greatly disrupted by the war. At the outbreak of the war, she attended James Allen School for Girls, which was immediately evacuated to Sevenoaks, then later to Gloucester, where Adamson and her fellow students helped out on farms. After several evacuations to different parts of the country, she eventually joined South London Emergency Grammar School, on the site of Honour Oak School.

Adamson spent happy hours in the school library, supposedly doing homework, but actually browsing through the collections of beautiful, coloured art books – she recalled enjoying Van Gogh, Braque, Gaugin and El Greco. Thus motivated, Adamson eventually found herself at Goldsmiths College of Art, specializing in book illustration. There, she was appointed keeper of the art school library, which consisted of one large cupboard crammed with reference books on anatomy, architecture, costume and illustrators from the 19th Century to the 1940s. Whatever reference her fellow students requested she could immediately locate in one book or another.

At South London Emergency Grammar School, Adamson's artistic abilities were noticed and in 1944, at 16 years old, she was awarded a scholarship to study Illustration and Design at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Goldsmiths College of Art

In Autumn 1944, aged 16, Adamson was awarded a Senior County Scholarship, which took her to Goldsmiths College to study illustration and design. “Art school at sixteen, just before the war ended, was like heaven – I couldn’t believe it, drawing all day!” There were only about twenty students there, this being war time. Most of the campus had been destroyed during the blitz and only the art department was still intact. The air raid service had taken over the main campus, and barrage balloons were attached to the buildings and grounds. This also made the campus a target for the Luftwaffe. Goldsmiths described an attempted permanent takeover of the campus and some potential foul-play by Dulwich Council.

At Goldsmiths, Adamson studied the history of book illustration, and learned the whole process of printing. "We had to know about this so that we could adapt our designs to technical requirements. The course lasted five years, and one of our tutors was Graham Sutherland, who had himself been a student at the College.” She was also known to have been taught by Clive Gardiner, Betty Swanwick, Joseph McCulloch, Val Dunnett, Freddy Manners, Drake Brookshaw, Paul Drury and Harold Parker.

In 1948, Adamson graduated from Goldsmiths and continued to teach illustration and design at the college for another five years.

Graduate Teacher

When students began flowing back into the college after the war, it was still under refurbishment. One student recalled, "The inside rooms resembled the Pompidou Centre in Beaubourg, Paris. All the heating pipes and electrical cabling had been installed, but the plastering was still going on during classes.” “At Goldsmiths, carpenters were still putting the windows in, so the students left their desks and sat on the water pipes running along what should have been plaster-boarded walls.”

Adamson spoke with fondness about the end of the war and the return of older service men, “lovely, gentle men”, who resumed their education under her tutelage.

Gareth Adamson

Adamson met her future husband and writing partner, Gareth Adamson, while studying at Goldsmiths. He was amongst a wave of older students who joined the college after the war. She and Gareth bonded over a shared interest in toy theatre, an interest which would later lead to them creating animations for TV together. After graduating, she and Gareth went their separate ways, but stayed in touch by letter.

Early career

First Books

During her early career, Adamson worked as an art teacher at Goldsmiths and also worked as a freelance artist and illustrator. She created a range of work, including rope-work designs, greetings cards, self-published books and, from about 1952, Adamson started to gain recognition as an illustrator with the publication of Tired Train (1952).

Little Circus (1951)

“I published my first book myself, a rag book called The Little Circus, printed in three colours (by foot) from lino cuts and sold it around various West End stores and bookshops.” The book is a humorous depiction of a tiny animal circus, with acts such as "A caterpillar band"; "Kitty cat clown"; "The snail race"; "Two clever rabbits"; "Leap frog"; The mouse's ride"; "Three balancing birds." Adamson printed 500 copies.

The Tired Train (1952)

"My first big commission was to illustrate a collection of stories by Leila Berg, called The Tired Train." "This is a BBC “Listen With Mother” story, and the volume, gaily illustrated by Jean Bailey, also contains some other tales from this popular programme.”

Rope Designs

Adamson made rope sculptures and embroidered ornaments. "Cartoon animation and book design are not the sum total of Adamson’s artistic achievements." "She did several rope decorations for cocktail bars and in the Black Swan at Belford there is a plaque of a swan made out of plaited straw which she designed."

Cirencester Coronation Lion, Unicorn and Crown

Her miniature rope designs were spotted in a pub by Oliver Hill, and he commissioned Adamson, and a Goldsmiths student, Desmond Stone, to design a gigantic Lion, Unicorn and Crown Sculpture for the Queen's coronation.

"She showed me a photograph of a Coronation piece which she and a colleague designed for the town of Cirencester. This was a lion and unicorn supporting a crown." The lion was made from “A mile of rope, some wire netting, bamboo canes and wood” and weighed “half a ton and standing nearly 25ft high.” The couple made a small scale model of string in three days. Then they started to fashion the huge copy of the miniature lion and unicorn.

"Had they any worries? "No,” said Adamson, “The lorry being sent down to collect it has been specially fitted for the purpose.” “Our only worry is rain. If it does rain we are wondering whether the model will shrink. But still, as long as it doesn’t shrink back to the size of our original scale model we are not going to worry too much."

Assembled at the 'House of Artists'

“The model — which is nearly finished after seven weeks’ work — has been built in the drawing room of Elliot Vale House, Blackheath. The room was lent to them by the owners of the house — “The House of Artists” — Mr. and Mrs. Maclenan.” Elliot Vale House is populated entirely by artists. Said ex-art student Jean Maclenan: “I like artists. My husband and I like them living with us.”

There are bearded Ben Franklin, his wife and their three children. He is a sculptor. Maureen Black is a mural painter. Then there is Margaret Sanders, a painter who has, this year, had a picture exhibited at the Royal Academy. Derek Cooper, a painter who also teaches at Goldsmiths, is another member of the household. All are ex-students of Goldsmiths.

Restoration Attempts

Since its creation, the coronation lion has intrigued scholars and conservationists, who have made attempts at finding, restoring and displaying the piece.

“For several years, Lucy Abel Smith had been desperate to find a missing 11-ft high rope statue of a lion unicorn and crown, which was the centrepiece of Cirensester’s 1953 coronation celebrations.” After a campaign by the Standard in 2011, the statue was found in a ropey state on part of the Bathurst Estate. The lion and unicorn pieces are yet to be restored, but guild workers were recently able to save the crown, which was previously remade in 1997 for Quenington’s biennial Fresh Air Show. Lucy from Quenington, said: “I can’t tell you how delighted I am that it will be shown for the diamond jubilee celebrations. It was a miracle that it was found and restored and it’s a very valuable piece of national significance.” CDC’s Bob McNally said the Corinium Museum and Council were looking into a number of options which could lead to the artefact being placed on public display for a much longer period, to avoid the problem of storing the piece.

Cartoon and Animation Work

Pearl and Dean Animation Unit

“After a year or two of freelancing, Adamson joined an animation cartoon film unit as Storyman.” Besides being a teacher at Goldsmiths, this was her first full-time job as a practicing illustrator and designer. "I had a lovely time. It was a huge unit in London’s Dover Street run by an ex-UPA American – a breakaway doing new modernistic “contemporary work, stylish amusing cartoons, very unlike Disney".

The ex-UPA American was David Hilberman, who worked at Disney before co-founding UPA, and then went on to found Tempo Productions. Hilberman left America for London and seized on an opportunity to lead a new animation unit at Pearl and Dean. During his time at Pearl and Dean, Hilberman’s unit produced films such as Calling All Salesmen (1956) and Pan-Tele-Tron (1957) as well as a range of uncredited marketing films.

It was a new unit established c. 1954 to make cartoon commercials and longer sponsored films. Hilberman went round other animation studios and picked off a range of talent, including Digby Turpin, Nancy Hanna and Vera Linnecar. They started a range of productions and it was said to be really dynamic and interesting time.

What is a storyman?

“They are the people who make up the story and characters for customers to approve before an advertising cartoon film is actually made,” explained Adamson. “There are thousands of drawings in a two minute film," she continued, “And a film lasting ten minutes would take as long as six months to complete.” When asked, with her wide knowledge of the technique employed would she still be able to enjoy a cartoon film, she replied, “Oh, yes, possibly even more than the average person, because I can appreciate both the technical and the artistic viewpoints.”

Adamson's experience at Pearl and Dean played a part in shaping her skills as an illustrator. "This time spent inventing characters and stories to be used in films to sell modern goods and chattels informed her acute sense of design, sequence and narrative. The joy and confidence she gained from drawing stylised washing machines, tvs, and vacuum cleaners nurtured her facility for depicting the home setting in an inviting and measured way."

Hilberman left Pearl and Dean and returned to the States and the atmosphere and ambition at the animation unit changed. In Vera Linnecar's recollection, the male execs at Pearl & Dean didn’t appreciate female talent and many female animators left. Around this time, Adamson also left the unit and moved to Newcastle to marry Gareth Adamson.

Gareth Adamson

In 1957, Gareth Adamson worked for Cravens but had dreams of writing and illustrating childrens books, and inventing electronic toy theatres. He came from a family of whimsical entrepreneurs who ran a small fudge-making enterprise called Adelma Candies, in Alnwick. His father, William, head of the Alnwick Home Guard during WW2, went door-to-door selling the candies, while his mother Isobel (née Hughes) cooked the fudge at home in her kitchen. Gareth made adverts for Adelma Candies, and designed sweet-wrappers.

He injured his back in a fall while volunteering as an air-raid warden and developed his writing skills from his hospital bed. Due to his service as air raid warden in Alnwick, Adamson received an ex-servicemen's scholarship to study at Goldsmiths, where he and Jean first met. They both had similar professions as illustrators making a living in advertising, but with dreams of writing books and making animations.

Yorkshire TV: My World

Adamsons' interest in toy theatre and animation would lead to their creating a number of animated stories for Yorkshire TV. Known examples that survive today are Puppet Caravan, The Weather, Tom Builds a House, Prine Trees, and Yorky and Ablam Kish. TV Schedules indicate that these films were broadcast from 1970 until 1975 on My World.

During the 1970s, at least four Topsy and Tim book reading sessions were broadcast on Storytime, My World. These films sometimes contained simple animated elements, and the illustrations are often different to those seen in the books.

1 Bailiffgate, Alnwick

After a year living together in Newcastle, in 1957, the Adamsons purchased 1 Bailiffgate. During this time, Jean made postcards: “On her desk in the studio lay some gay and colourful Christmas cards she had designed, and one I especially admired had a white snowflake motif on a scarlet background."

It was at 1 Bailiffgate that they began writing Topsy and Tim: "The book she and her husband are now busy with will tell the day to day adventures of a brother and sister, and when complete there will be seven books in the series. They are now working on the third.”

Topsy and Tim

Front cover illustration of "Topsy and Tim's Caravan Holiday" by Adamson

In the winter of 1960, two twins with black hair, rosy cheeks and zig-zag fringes began appearing in newspaper adverts across the UK.

How it started

“Jean Adamson, the illustrator, recalls their early experience conceiving the idea. It was the late 1950s and the young couple had re-met (and married!) after working successfully in advertising. Through an agent they learned of the opportunity to work for Blackies’ publishers to produce a new range of storybooks for the young age range. Their background at Goldsmiths as students of illustration and Gareth’s experience as a writer, when incapacitated through illness as a youth, equipped them admirably to embark on the challenge before them.”

The Adamsons then went and looked at what was currently available in book shops: "We went to look around a big bookshop in Northumberland as we were living in Alnwick and found lovely books about dragons and fairies and witches but absolutely nothing about children in the fifties."

Gareth then drafted text and rough illustrations for the first three Topsy and Tim stories and presented them to Blackie. “Blackie agreed and the couple set to work on the first title. Its immediate success, enhanced by the fact that unusually for the day it was in full colour, ensured that more books followed in rapid succession”. “Their objective became clear: to combine a sentence or two of text with an illustration of a small boy and girl learning from looking and doing in a world waiting to be explored. The launch of the Twins Topsy and Tim.”

Working Together

The Adamsons' skills were a good compliment and, despite their different characters. "We worked very well together because we respected one another and we had our roles". "I would do the basic subject research and layout and I would sketch out the bare bones of the plot," she said. Gareth would then take over and produce a beautifully crafted storyline. I would then do the illustrations. "We made a very good team."

Adamson always advocated for equality in Topsy and Tim. "I did change the names around sometimes if I thought he'd given Tim all the best bits" she revealed. Adamson said the choice of girl and boy twins was a way of ensuring gender equality. "In most of the books at the time girl characters were very much in second place. They didn't seem to be able to get themselves dirty and have the same adventures."

Describing Topsy and Tim

Adamsons' stories “document[ed] the lives of these imaginary playful twins whose everyday experiences in the park, at the zoo, at the doctors, that are presented to young children as a series of adventures.”

“Adamson’s images marry beautifully with the text. She was inspired by her husband's stories, knocked out by them. Before her life with her husband, she worked within an animation film unit as a storyman. This time spent inventing characters and stories to be used in films to sell modern goods and chattels informed her acute sense of design, sequence and narrative. The joy and confidence she gained from drawing stylised washing machines, tvs and vacuum cleaners nurtured her facility for depicting the home setting in an inviting and measured way. She understood the world through her images and presented it to young children in gouache pictures which are fresh, direct and accessible. She could now advise aspiring young illustrators to develop an interest and let it nourish the visual work which they undertake."

Their longevity and enduring appeal owes much to the combined creative flair and harmony of the writer and illustrator which is manifest in the execution of the boos. Gareth was a graceful writer; he created a simple text which encapsulated the enchantment of childhood. Through his words we are reminded that the whole world is a magical place and that the everyday is a land full of discovery. When Topsy and Tim looked out of the window for the first time on Monday they saw...” “In this world naughtiness holds delicious appeal; Gareth thought it great fun to make Tim have a temper tantrum in the very first Topsy and Tim story and so did thousands of boys and girls who have subsequently read the book. Learning, living and loving life are embedded in his words.”

Influences on Adamson

Adamson mentioned the "Out of the Ark" series by S.H. Hulme Beaman as inspiring the 'shape of the Topsy and Tim books'.

There is some similarity between Jean's early Topsy and Tim illustrations and paintings by Mary Blair, such as those seen in 'Little Verses', though it is not known whether Blair's work inspired Adamson.

Adamsons' other books

Through the 1960s and 1970s the Adamsons published a variety of books.

Jean's Books

Jean illustrated and authored numerous children’s books in the 1960s and 1970s, such as ABC: A Picture Alphabet (1962), Family Tree (1968), Animal Bounce (1969), Hop Like Me (1972), Village Green (1972) and the Chestnut Tree (1974). The Adamsons occasionally collaborated on books, other than Topsy and Tim, as a writer-illustrator duo, for example, in Neighbours in the Park (1962), The Ahmed Story (1966).

Gareth's Books

Gareth had an interest in making fun, informative and wittily illustrated book series, such as the Mr Budge Buys a Car (1965), Mr Budge Builds a House (1968) Machines at Home (1969) Wheels for the Road (1973) and more, he also received critical acclaim for his modern fables, such as Harold the Happy Handy Man (1968) and Old Man Up a Tree (1963). Old Man Up a Tree ‘received praise from reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic’. “Gareth Adamson lets his imagination soar to produce a hilarious fable in picture book form”; “A modern fable, genuinely funny, with uncluttered pictures in bold bright colours”; “Excellent quasi-folk-tale developed with style and humour… the drawing shows keen observation”; “A pointed fable with charming illustrations”.

The Patternmaker (1965)

In 1965, Gareth was awarded £500 for first prize in a BBC Northeast competition, for his play, The Patternmaker (1965).

“Gareth Adamson, 39. Of Bailiffgate, Alnwick, Northumberland, for his comedy 'The Patternmaker' won first .. in a competition organised jointly by the BBC and the association for writers born in Northumberland, Durham or the North Riding.”

“Anyone from here? Of Course! It really is enough to arouse all the partisan emotions of a Roses match. The BBC and the North Eastern Association for the Arts organised one of those contests for television plays. The conditions were that entrants should have been born, educated or resident in Northumberland, Durham or the North Riding. Sure enough the winner, Adamson, lived in Alnwick, Northumberland. But he just happened to have been born in Liverpool and to have begun his further education with a scholarship to the Liverpool School of Art. Adamson and his wife are now writers and illustrators of children’s books.”

“Alnwick man wins North-East play contest. An author of children’s books, living in Alnwick today received the £500 first prize as winner of a North-East television play competition. But 39-year-old Adamson, of Bailiffgate, Alnwick whose Tuneside comedy 'The Pattern Maker' was judge the best of 246 entries, almost missed the ceremony after being defeated by Newcastle’s parking problems. He arrived at Broadcasting House, Newcastle, half an hour late for the ceremony. The competition was sponsored by the BBC and the North-East Association for the Arts in search for new talent in the North-East. Adamson, who is married with three children, has lived in Alnwick for the last 25 years. He received his £500 prize from Owen Brannigan, Northumbrian singer, and president of the North East Association for the Arts.”

Death of Gareth Adamson, 1982

“Sadly Gareth died, leaving Jean alone with the daunting task of doing the work of two people.” Gareth's death from a brain tumour was devastating. As well as losing her husband of 25 years, Adamson faced financial pressure. “I pretty much wrote non-stop for 20 years. We needed the money." Carrying on writing alone was difficult yet comfortingly familiar. “His death was absolutely tragic. It was nice to have Topsy and Tim though. I could carry on something we had started together.”

First Signs of the New Art-Style

Around the time of Gareth’s death, we saw Adamson's examples of the new Topsy and Tim art-style. It first showed itself in ABC Frieze (1982) and Big Fun Book (1983).

Ladybird

By the end of the millennium, Ladybird had become the new publisher and Topsy and Tim had: approximately 150 titles to date, with 4 CD ROMs, a 60 minute video and activity playbooks extending the stories into new directions.

After 40 years, Adamson was still designing and writing new Topsy and Tim books, but she had begun to collaborate with another artist, who would colour in her images. By this point, the stories had moved completely to the new art-style. “It is refreshing and enlightening to witness her sustained enthusiasm in this role and interesting to learn of her recent sharing of this responsibility with the freelance illustrator Nancy Hellen. The last 38 titles, many brand new, reflect this collaboration which was engineered to ensure the continued appeal of Topsy and Tim and to prevent them from becoming old fashioned. This may be perceived as a new chapter in the history of the titles. Adamson continued to art direct the design and layout, also supervised the styling of the whole book whilst Hellen finally created the artwork using bright inks and line to clothe the characters in appropriate modern fashions and locate them in a contemporary setting. The feel is bright and cheerful and whilst Adamson’s gouaches are drier-up, in the loft – she admitted that it was great fun waiting to see what would become of the characters.”

By this point, "Topsy and Tim secured a place in this continuum of excellence and will certainly be propelled into the new millennium. Adamson? She combined her career with what she described as a reclusive life of gardening, dressing up as a Viking for the WI, painting watercolours and entertaining her young grandchildren. She was right; the ordinary world is a magical and fascinating place."

Public appearances

For decades, Adamson made regular appearances library openings, playgroups, nurseries and schools, to give talks and read to children. The people she met on these visits became the inspiration for new Topsy and Tim stories.

2009 relaunch of Topsy and Tim with Belinda Wolseley

In 2009, Topsy and Tim adopted a new art-style. This time, Belinda Wolseley took over the illustrations, which she based on Adamson’s original illustrations.

2020 Republication

In 2020, to celebrate the 60th anniversary, Topsy and Tim “On the Farm” was republished with Adamson’s original illustrations.

Death

Adamson died on 15 December 2024, at the age of 96.

Awards

Adamson received an MBE in the 2000 New Year Honours for her services to children's literature and in 2016, she was made Honorary Fellow of Goldsmiths College.

Publications

Known Publications (besides Topsy and Tim)

Known Joint Publications with Gareth Adamson (besides Topsy and Tim)

Adamsons' Original Yorkshire TV Productions

Lost Topsy and Tim Episodes from the 1960s

There are traces of 1960s Topsy and Tim TV production, but details of this are very scarce. “Irresistible Topsy & Tim: … featured on Television and Radio, parents and teachers praise them – and children love TOPSY AND TIM’s adventures.”