#Booky100Keepers Day 79: The Books of Judith Kerr

Judith Kerr was a remarkable woman and it'd be impossible to feature any kind of children's book roundup without featuring her brilliant books. Working right up until her death a couple of years ago, Judith's books have always been favourites - and yet we didn't start out with the book you'd expect, though there is a tiger in this one.

"Mog and the V.E.T" is probably one of Judith's funniest books. The Mog series is always excellent but this particular  book absolutely nailed what cat ownership is about, and reminded me of what it was like growing up amongst cat lovers. There was always at least one moggy around.

This time Mog has hurt her paw, and whether she likes it or not, the family decide it's time to go to the (Whisper it) Vee Ee Tee.

The two things Judith always does well in the Mog books - observing and describing cat behaviour perfectly, but also somehow mastering the trick of placing you - the reader - right inside Mog's mind, as if you can read her innermost thoughts - is why this book is so good. The family know there'll be trouble when they haul out Mog's travelling basket. Mog definitely knows there'll be trouble and resists with all her might, but eventually she's on the way to the vets in the car (which she also doesn't like).

Once there the full realisation of where she is hits her, and needless to say there is absolute chaos as Mog won't take a visit to the vets lying down. Her hurt paw is fixed, but there's a clamorous chaotic scene as Mog breaks loose and leads all the other animals in the vets on a merry chase.

The other bit we really like though is the voyage to trip-out city that the vet goes on that night as he has the most terrible dream about animals. We often wondered whether a well-meaning editor might have tried to trim that scene but it's a brilliant (if slightly loopy) addition to the story and I could imagine a steadfast Kerr standing in front of her editor saying "Either that scene stays, or I go!" and winning the day. Utterly brilliant, and definitely one of the best Mog stories (they're all pretty good though!)

Of course we have to talk about "The Tiger Who Came to Tea", probably the book that most people immediately think of when they think of Judith Kerr. We came to this one relatively late as it was always one of the most popular books in our local library, so when we did finally get our hands on a rather straggly copy we knew we'd end up buying our own (and we did).

A young girl opens the door one day to find a rather large but quite benign tiger standing there. The tiger invites himself in, and proceeds to act like the world's worst house guest. He eats his way through the cupboards, drinks all of daddy's beer (WHAT?! Can you imagine THAT passing muster in a modern children's book?) and (yes, the bit most people remember this book for) also drinks all the water in the tap (imagine if the book's editor had got their way on THAT one and had cut it out, as they'd suggested. Again very glad JK stuck to her guns and insisted it was left in).

The little girl thinks she's found a friend, but as soon as the tiger is satisfied, he ups and leaves - But what will Daddy say when he gets home and the house is completely stripped of consumables?

We've seen so many well-meaning teardowns and analyses of this book, everything from it being an allegory for Kerr's own experience of being displaced from her native country by the Nazi regime, to a well meaning but not very well thought out piece claiming this is one of the earliest feminist novels, showing the tiger supressing the book's lone female (I'd almost buy into this theory if it wasn't for Kerr being asked about the meaning of the book in an interview, and rather twinklingly replying "It's about a tiger who comes to tea").

Kerr's later work continued to impress, though we had some fairly tart things to say about "The Great Granny Gang", possibly the only Kerr book that didn't end up being a keeper (and probably one of the reasons we never got sent any more to review from HarperCollins!) The review is included below amongst all the others just so you can see why we didn't take to it though.

That said, Kerr continued to be an energetic champion for children's literacy, appearing at many book events - and her wisdom and brilliant storytelling and illustrative skills were matchless, and it was a very sad day when she passed on.

Original Review Links

Mog and Bunny and Other Stories by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

The Great Granny Gang by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Mog's Bad Thing by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Very sad news indeed. Judith Kerr, author of "The Tiger who Came to Tea" and the fabulous "Mog" books has died at the age of 95.

ReadItDaddy's Booky Advent Calendar Day 10 - 10th December - "Mog's Christmas" by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week ending 13th September 2013 - The Tiger Who Came To Tea (40th Anniversary Edition) by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Twinkles, Arthur and Puss by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Mog the Forgetful Cat

The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins Children's Books)

Mog in the Dark

Goodbye Mog

Mog's Amazing Birthday Caper

Mog on Fox Night