The first "Meg and Mog" is an absolute timeless classic, now 48 years old which means it came out when I was four. That sounds about right as that would probably have been around the time I was being bought books like this from my junior school's brilliant "Puffin Book Readers" newsletter - Does anyone else remember those in school?
It's a really simple stripped down tale of a witch and her scritchy-scratchy (but scene stealing) cat, getting on their glad-rags and heading out to the annual Halloween Party with the rest of the witches. Mog is the best kind of witch. Slightly madcap and haphazard, her spells sometimes work but sometimes misfire, but in the end she manages to win the day (in fact watch out for a VERY SIMILAR witch coming up in our keepers list soon).
The beauty of the Meg and Mog books is that Helen and Jan worked so brilliantly together as a creative team - the perfect fusion of a simple low word count story with simple but hugely effective (and still widely admired) artwork. In fact these books were way, way ahead of their time.
Helen and Jan collaborated on many Meg and Mog books covering a huge selection of different themes, but never preachy moralistic tales, always stories that were just plain good fun.
Sadly Helen passed away in 2012 - but the books continued, with Jan Pienkowski working with David Walser on all new Meg and Mog tales
It's quite daunting to step into the shoes of another creative, but David managed to capture the tone of the original stories, adding additional dimensions to the characters of Meg, Mog and Owl - but thankfully not detracting anything from the entertainment value of these books.
Jan's artwork still worked beautifully, slightly more complicated and 'busy' than the older books but still absolutely bang on point, ensuring that early readers could completely engage with each story and find all sorts of fun elements to help the stories bounce along.
They're still great books, even now, particularly for kids who love a bit of spookiness in their books.
Original Review Links
Mog in the Fog
Meg in the Jungle by David Walser and Jan Pienkowski (Picture Puffin)
Meg goes to Bed
Our Spooky Halloween Book Blowout with witches, ghosts, and things that go "BOOK" in the night!
Helen Nicoll R.I.P
Meg, Mog and Og
Meg's Car
Meg on the Moon