Little Miss Splendid

Little Miss Books #10

by Roger Hargreaves

Miss Splendid thinks herself a thoroughly superior creature and too good for any of the earth's common things.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Fantasy, Humor

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Roger Hargreaves was a British cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books. He created the Mr. Men series, Little Miss series and Timbuctoo series, intended for young readers. The simple and humorous stories, with bold, brightly coloured illustrations, have sales of more than 85 million copies worldwide in 20 languages.

Reviews

[Calista]

Little Miss Splendid sure is snooty. She won’t talk to the regular little people. She won’t ride the bus. She’s rude and self-important. She walks into town and finds a hat in the window. She buys it without looking at the price. Then she tries to take a taxi home and her hat won’t fit in the door. She won’t ride the bus so she walks home and it rains on her. Sometimes there is a little justice in the world. She and her hat look a mess. I do not like Miss Splendid, she is anything but.

This was cute. Again, I got the nephew to read it with me. Mr. Happy, Mr Small and Mr. Daydream are all players in this book so he was able to get into the story. He said he liked seeing Miss Splendid get all wet. He laughed. He gave it 3 stars.

[Ken]

A clear case of pride coming before a fall as stuck up Little Miss Splendid believes she's better than everyone else.

You can't fault her logical when refusing to catch a bus as 'You have to sit next to people' (which made me chuckle), though the snob soon pays the price as her brand spanking new hat is ruined by the rain.

Another delightful tale in the always popular children's series.

[Sophie Crane]

I really enjoy the Mr. and Little Miss books. Any child with collection of these stories should be very lucky. They are fun to read to children and are simple enough for children to read themselves. Highly recommend them.

[Brandon]

More like Little Miss Bitch.

[Siobhan]

Ah, Mr Men and Little Miss, how wonderful you are!

These books made up so much of my childhood. No matter what I would go ahead and pick one up. I worked my way through them all a couple of times. Each one has a wonderful story for the child to engage with, each character being fun to read.

Everyone has a bias for their favourite character, yet every book is delightful.

[Rachel]

All of the Mr. Men/ Little Miss books have a moral to the story in the end, but somehow I feel like I'm missing this one. Little Miss Splendid thinks the world of herself and doesn't like or talk politely to other people and buys a splendid hat after being somewhat rude to the sales lady. So the sort of moral comes along that because of her new splendid hat, she can't fit in the taxi and walks home in the rain and the other Mr. Men more or less feel she gets what's coming to her. But in the end, she just takes a bath and stares at herself in the mirror, never admitting her wrongs, never making friends, and still thinking that she's just so splendid. So nothing really changed. What am I missing?

[Alannah Clarke]

I absolutely loved these Mr Men and Little Miss books. I remember getting them from my granny every week. There was so much from these simple characters, I remember filling my little bookshelf with all these books making sure I had got them all in right order. I wish I still had these books but somehow most of them got lost with many house moves or my mum gave the rest away. If I ever have kids, I will make sure they get the chance to experience these wonderful, colourful books.

[Katy W]

I tried to force these books on my own children as I'd loved the Mr Men books as a child and was miffed that there were no women until I was too old to want them. Maybe I just tried too hard, or maybe there are more books available to children these days than I had.

[Leah]

I loved these books as a kid. I read the few I still have to my nieces I wish I had more. This one is a fun little book about little miss splendid who thinks she is above everything until she is caught out in the rain and taught a little lesson by mother nature.

[Christina/Sweetleaf]

I absolutely LOVED these Little Miss/Mr. books when I was small, they are just adorable! I remember collecting the books and the figurines from the Arby's happy meals, what a deal :)

[Pearlie]

Short and sweet... yes. But makes a life changing point about living in glass houses...

splendid plump things shouldn't throw stones!

[Beulah]

I think I read every single one of these books as a youngster. They're pretty awesome. I live my life by the lessons learned in them. Mostly.

[JG (Introverted Reader)]

I don't actually remember what this is about, but I do know that I called a girl I went to school with Little Miss Splendid with my family. We all still call her that 25 years later!

[Gavin]

The female Mr Uppity, sort of.

[τλιϓλ]

Ah, it was so hard to like this little miss, I wish if she can learn some good manners, it wont't hurt, will it?

[April Thompson Freeman]

Little Miss Splendid and Naughty run a close race as to which I dislike more..

[Alex]

I liked this book because I like to be splendid. I also liked this book because Little Miss Splendid was splendid.

[Dane Cobain]

Oh yes, fabulous. Always fun to meet a Little Miss.

[Lucie Pop]

what a cunt

[Jessica]

I get the feeling Little Miss Splendid did not learn the errors of her snooty ways.

[Stina]

Book #46 for 2014

This tiny book was really quite pointless, to the point of being annoying. At least it was short and quick, but I feel like 1 star is being generous.

[Meredith]

Little Miss Splendid acts superior to others.

Little Miss Splendid goes to town, turns up her nose at Mr. Happy and Mr. Daydream for riding the bus, and then is rude to a shop clerk. She ends up walking home in the rain because she is too good to ride the bus and because her new fancy hat is too big to fit in a taxi.

But in contrast to the other Mr. Men and Little Miss books in which characters with negative traits learn their lesson ... at least for the moment, Little Miss Splendid's tromp in the rain doesn't appear to have taught her anything. Once she returns home, she is almost immediately back to behaving in a self-important way.

[Jade]

Sometimes Mr Men and Little Miss books don't have a clear moral at the end! Little Miss Splendid gets a sort of comeuppance during the story but we end on her carrying on with he splendid life unphased. I mean, I guess that's realistic: most people won't have an about-face after the loss of one hat.

[Slow Man]

Splendid. What a way to describe a character to the young. She has class, expensive taste and her nose is always up. But unfortunate things happen but she being splendid and all that will be picking herself up and carry on living in her splendid world.

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit)]

Children's Picture Books

From the Little Men & Little Miss series, Little Miss Splendid must have all the best!


Read with my daughter after reading Mr. Tickle from the '1001 Children's Books to Read Before You Grow Up' list.

[Anna]

I highly recommend trying to do a Moira Rose style of voice for anything Little Miss Splendid says or thinks. You'll remember the experience, and you'll remember the name: Tiny Lady Wonderful. Little Miss Sprinkler. Splen—Agh! Bingo Splenclutter!

[Jessica]

I miss this series! I found a copy of this, and couldn’t wait to read it to my son, even though he is too young to understand the lesson.

[Shahrun]

She’s quite rude but even getting a dose of justice doesn’t correct her ways. Loved the fabulous hat she got mind.

[Kylie Abecca]

Love how Miss Splendid gets her just desserts! Great little book for the kids.

[Sean Harding]

Splendid is such a great word, it is indeed splendid and rolls off the tongue lyrically, poetically and snootishly wonderful, and Miss Splendid personifies all of this.
Love it!
Little Miss #11