Goodbye Mog

We've previously covered quite a few of the Mog books here on ReadItDaddy and it's quite sad to know that Judith Kerr's 'Mog' books came to an end back in 2003 with this book, "Goodbye Mog".

It deals with one of the stickiest subjects a parent (or indeed a pet owner) will have to deal with - the eventual death of their beloved pet, more a member of the family than just an animal. In the case of Mog, Kerr deals with the subject of death in an extremely sensitive way without delving into concepts too weighty for children to understand.

Though Mog's family are distraught when she dies at the very start of the book (it's not exactly a spoiler to tell you this, the book is called "Goodbye Mog" after all, and does feature a rather ethereal looking Mog on the front cover!) but Mog sticks around for a little while to usher in the family's new pet, a rather nervous and frightened little kitten.

The kitten is not at all like Mog. It's scared of everything (not just christmas trees), it doesn't like to be petted - and it doesn't even like a boiled egg for breakfast! Debbie and Nicky wonder what to do about the youngster - until Mog takes the wayward kitten under her wing.

Beautifully written and illustrated, it's a fitting swansong for one of the best loved characters in children's fiction for the past 40 years or more.

Goodbye Mog, we miss you.

Charlotte's best bit - The kitten scratching Debbie when she first tries to pick it up.

Daddy's favourite bit - Pretending I had something in my eye at the end of the book (I did, honest!)

Rating - 4 out of 5 stars