Topsy and Tim facts for kids

Topsy and Tim is a series of children's books written by Jean Adamson and Gareth Adamson about twins and their adventures. They were first published in 1960 and were relaunched in new editions in February 2003.

Since 1960 more than 130 Topsy and Tim titles have been published with sales of more than 21 million.

Origin

In an interview with The Guardian, Jean Adamson said that she and her future husband had been trained as book illustrators at Goldsmiths College. They decided to get married and quit their jobs in order to write and illustrate their own children's books. Their approach was shaped by a visit to a children's bookshop in Newcastle where they realised that there were few books depicting actual contemporary children. She explained that the books were also influenced by the post-war mood:

At that time, not so terribly long after the end of the war, England was just waking up, bright colours were coming in, there was a lovely optimistic feeling in the air. So I said "Why don't we do books with real live little children in, with the little adventures and so on that they have in the house?"

Television series

The books have been adapted for television twice.

Bevanfield Films

Firstly by Bevanfield Films for Video Collection International, 60 episode 5 minute animated series narrated by Roger Blake and was shown on ITV. Further details can be seen here: List of Topsy and Tim (Bevanfield Films) episodes.

CBeebies

In 2013 a 13-minute live-action series was made for CBeebies, with 3 series produced and 71 episodes made. Further details can be seen here: List of Topsy and Tim episodes. No further episodes are planned for production. The series was produced by Darrall Macqueen.

List of books