His imagining of being a cowboy then a highway man were just too simple-minded to be believable, not funny to me but rather I thought he was a sad man to think he might understand more about the world if he could get a modern education. The satire and humour become more caustic at this point, as the target expands from the dumb naivete of the protagonist to the cold, harsh authoritarianism of the real world; if this is what the world is like, Jim's desire to escape into a boys' adventure book version of the world is understandable.

Jim’s dream is to be a latter-day Robin Hood, but he is constantly thwarted by red tape and bureaucracy. Jim's idiocy gets him in trouble, but the world can't tell the difference between simplicity and criminality, any more than Jim can tell the difference between fantasy and reality.seated astride a mangy old donkey and wearing a pair of old wellingtons, his wife’s lacy blouse, an air raid warden’s battered helmet, bearing a toy mask and pistol, and a black and red cape lovingly sewn for him out of stuff from the jumble sale, by Hilda. It led to the much-loved animated short film, which is still broadcast on television every Christmas, and a musical adaptation which is staged almost as often. Raymond Briggs adopts a far wider palette of pastel colours whenever Jim dreams, perfectly illustrating his great ambitions and wild fantasies. Should he then become a cowboy - or a highwayman, just like the “Gentleman Jim” in one of his books, sitting astride his trusty steed, the charger “Black Bess”?

I recently came across my stack of Raymond Briggs' wonderful books for children and adults, and am working my way through them again. We see by the captions on the strip story, Jim’s painful spelling-out of the unfamiliar words and their context on the page. It's a really sweet and poignant tale about two simple people who care au each other and are a little naive about what is possible as his ideas get crazier and her gets in trouble with the law. The Man is a dialogue between a boy, John, and a tiny naked man who appears in the middle of the night, demanding clothes.

Deciding that he wants to better himself he attempts to get started on various career changes until he fixes upon Highwayman (but only to take from the rich and give to the poor). Yet the result winds up more amusing than depressing, as the circumstances never seem to wear on Jim's unceasing optimism or his wife Hilda's blissful accommodativeness.

Gentleman Jim is the story of Jim Bloggs, an imaginative toilet cleaner who, dissatisfied with his station in life, devotes his time to envisioning a world beyond it. He tries so hard to make things good, is intentions are top notch but he isn't that bright has a few problems getting exactly what he wants. His work has won numerous awards and been adapted for film on several occasions including Ethel and Ernest. If you, or your children, have seen or, ideally, read the Snowman than I can pretty much garuntee you will like this book.Jim can read this with great skill, and enthusiasm, because this engages his imagination, and boring job adverts do not. They are by turns sad and funny, full of a quiet sorrow, all lifted by a pervading optimism through their main characters who are unable to cope with reality, which will give you a rueful smile. For his contribution as a children's illustrator Briggs was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1984.