It may be my 32nd or 33rd book

November 28, 2017 10:31 AM

Judith Kerr, now 94, escaped Nazi Germany with her family on the eve of Hitler's rise to power. Writer of 33 books (so far!) she is the creator of the much loved Tiger who came to tea, as well as the lovable, recently deceased Mog.

Kerr describes her writing day

Kerr discusses her work and her 52 year marriage to science fiction writer Nigel 'Tom' Kneale.

posted by threetwentytwo (16 comments total)

Aw, Mog.

I always forget the Nigel Kneale detail.
posted by Artw at 10:53 AM on November 28, 2017

Also the Gatiss interview, which could just be a fanboy banging on about her dead husband, is actually rather lovely.
posted by Artw at 11:01 AM on November 28, 2017

Huh. I read When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, but I hadn't been aware she wrote and illustrated picture books. I wonder if those are an example of British kids' books that didn't catch on in the US.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 11:02 AM on November 28, 2017

Haven't really seen them here - I'm now a little sad that my kids might be getting a bit old for them - but they were all over the place in the UK when i was growing up.
posted by Artw at 11:06 AM on November 28, 2017

.

Mog
posted by mdoar at 12:02 PM on November 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Huh. I read When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, but I hadn't been aware she wrote and illustrated picture books. I wonder if those are an example of British kids' books that didn't catch on in the US.

I read When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit when I was a kid in the 70s. I think it was kind of a big deal when it was published. But I also didn't know much about Judith Kerr's other books, or that When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit was part of a trilogy (until just now when I looked it up).
posted by lagomorphius at 12:12 PM on November 28, 2017

.
posted by Faintdreams at 2:35 PM on November 28, 2017

Judith Kerr isn't dead! Mog the fictional cat is dead. And also fictional.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:28 PM on November 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Still

.

Just noticed that Mog has the same markings as my recently departed cat.
posted by Artw at 3:30 PM on November 28, 2017

> I wonder if those are an example of British kids' books that didn't catch on in the US

My kids know Mog (we're in the US) from checking out those books from the library, so those made it, at least. We also know the Tiger Who Came to Tea, but that was given to us by a British friend.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:44 PM on November 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

MOG DIED????

... there goes my childhood
posted by lydhre at 5:06 PM on November 28, 2017

That's cats for you.
posted by Artw at 5:16 PM on November 28, 2017

I would just like to say that Sophie had fabulous stockings.
posted by allium cepa at 10:32 PM on November 28, 2017

I wonder if those are an example of British kids' books that didn't catch on in the US.

I'd guess so; The Tiger Who Came To Tea is pretty well-known here, along with Mog. It's interesting how so much teen/YA stuff is transatlantic but younger children's is significantly less so - films yes, but TV less (I believe the misery that is Paw Patrol gets dubbed with different accents), and books too. My theory on this is on the book side is that lots of the market is grandparents and aunts/uncles buying books they remember loving (my mum sent my daughter a parcel of 70s/80s Shirley Hughes picturebooks the other week, which hold up really well), and on the TV side the influence of the BBC. It's a guess, though. But nevertheless you should all read The Tiger Who Came To Tea, it's lovely.
posted by Catseye at 12:56 AM on November 29, 2017

As a British woman who was raised on the marvellous Mog, on the subject of her transatlantic appeal (or lack of same), I am always amused by the following commentary from a parent in the USA:

Here is the book that separates the Americans from the Brits, for one reason alone, which I will get to in a second. [...] [O]ne night, one of [Mog's] annoying personality traits comes in handy, when she inadvertently uses it to thwart a burglar. Brava kitty!

Now, here's the part I don't understand, as an American. The civilized notion that the thing to do with a thief while you wait for the police to arrive is to invite him in for tea. It's not explained within the story, yet there, one page after the man is nabbed, we see him enjoying a cup of tea with the family, his burglar mask casually dangling from his pinky.

Whether it's lost in translation or maybe I've lived in the gun-smoking state of Texas too long, who knows. (I think we all know what Rick Perry would have done to the guy.) No matter. My son thinks it's hilarious, which might be the point all together. Or better yet, when you've witnessed such incredible inhumanity firsthand like Ms. Kerr has, perhaps even the most loathsome soul deserves a spot of tea.
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 11:01 AM on November 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

I loved When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit when I read it as a kid, and have reread it, and the rest of the trilogy, many times since. Thank you, Judith!
posted by penguin pie at 11:45 AM on November 29, 2017