He exploited this with incredibly intricate designs on each spread," he said. "At that time it was costly to have full colour throughout a children's book, so you would have colour on one spread, and black and white on the next. He praised the "superb skill" of McKee's artwork. Loving the Mr Benn books and the television series as a child, he enquired about the books' availability and was surprised but delighted to discover that republishing rights in the titles were available. Thorp was inspired to bring the books back into print after seeing a display of McKee's work at a gallery. It led to the BBC commissioning McKee to write a series for television, which was shown in the early 1970s. The first Mr Benn book, Mr Benn: Red Knight – in which he dons his bowler hat and leaves Number 52, Festive Road for a costume shop, tries on a suit of armour and travels to medieval times – was published in 1967. The publisher is pitching the titles both at "those old enough to remember them first time around who have grown up to become aficionados of quality in children's illustration and to young readers encountering Mr Benn's unique charms for the first time".
Tate publishing director Roger Thorp said he hoped the books would bring Mr Benn to "a whole new generation". The fact that Tate has published him in his original form is really the icing on the cake." "Over the years public reaction to him has been very rewarding. "Mr Benn has been a part of my life since 1965, but it feels as though he's always been there," said McKee, 75, the author of more than 100 children's books including King Rollo and Elmer the Patchwork Elephant.
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