Dick Bruna, the Utrecht artist behind the globally successful Miffy children’s books, has put away his pencils for ever, local broadcaster RTV Utrecht reports on Wednesday.

Bruna, 86, brought out the last book about Miffy the rabbit in 2011. The first was published in 1955. The rabbit is known as Nijntje in Dutch.

The artist has his own museum, the Dick Bruna Huis, in Utrecht. The rights to the Miffy character will not be sold on to a new artist, spokeswoman Yolanda van den Berg said.