Children’s author Jean Adamson whose books inspired Topsy and Tim TV series dies aged 96 Jean Adamson, the children’s author whose Topsy and Tim book series inspired a CBeebies TV show of the same name, has died aged 96.
The message from her family read: ‘It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved Jean Adamson.
The couple first started publishing the Topsy and Tim books – which follow the adventures of a pair of twins – in 1960.
Born in Peckham in 1928, Adamson received a scholarship when she was 16 years old to study illustration and design at Goldsmiths College in London.
In the 1950s, Adamson began working as an illustrator, having also taught at the college where she studied and worked as a freelance artist in different mediums.
