In the early 1990s an image of Miffy holding an adjustable spanner coyly behind her back appeared on flyers produced by people taking direct action against the UK government's road building program.

The other characters that appear in the books are her family: Miffy's parents, her Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Alice, and her Uncle Borris Bear, who appears in Miffy Goes Flying.

Miffy celebrated her fiftieth birthday in 2005.

The first Miffy book was produced in 1955, and almost 30 others have followed.

At first Miffy looked like a toy animal, with floppy ears, but by 1963 she looked the way we see Miffy today.

In 1955 the first book was published in the Miffy series by Dutch author and illustrator Dick Bruna.

His best known creation is Miffy ( Nijntje in the original Dutch ), a small rabbit drawn with heavy graphic lines, simple shapes and primary colors.

In 1955, while on holiday with his wife Irene and their child, he saw a rabbit hopping around their house and later made attempts to draw it, thereby creating Miffy.

To date, Dick Bruna has published 120 children's book titles, the most recent being " Queen Miffy " in 2007.

Image: Miffy_Statue_in_Utrecht. jpg | Miffy Statue on the " Nijntje Pleintje " in Utrecht

Image: Nijntje_Amsterdam. jpg | Miffy Shop, Amsterdam

Miffy (, pronounced ) is a small female rabbit in a series of picture books drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna.

Miffy was created in 1955 after Bruna had been telling his one-year-old son Sierk stories about a little rabbit they had seen earlier in the dunes, while on holiday at Egmond aan Zee.

Miffy became a female after Bruna decided that he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers on his rabbit.

Depending on the story, Miffy can be a baby or four years old.

Miffy is drawn in a minimalist style, requiring only a few lines and one or two primary colors.

Even though the things that he draws are not realistic, they are instantly recognisable, and Miffy is obviously a rabbit.

There are now almost 30 titles for Miffy, and many more for the other characters.

The Miffy books each contain sixteen pages of story.

Most Miffy books have an advisory reading level of age 4 to 8 years.

He has won many awards for his books, such as the Golden Brush in 1990 for Boris Bear and the Silver Brush for Miffy In The Tent in 1996.

A new brother or sister for Miffy is introduced in Miffy And The New Baby.

Miffy was designed as a children's book character, but the design is now used on many other things like clothes, stationery, toys, glasses, household items etc.

This unauthorised use of the character spread and Miffy became a mascot for groups involved in radical ecological direct action.

Miffy statue at the Nijntjepleintje (' little Nijntje square ') in Utrecht ( city ) | Utrecht, Netherlands | the Netherlands.

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