The "Meg and Mog" books were another example of me remembering books I'd loved as a child, and surreptitiously introducing them into C's reading pile as soon as I possibly could.

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

"Meg and the Romans" showed that the stories could still work, even when spun around into something altogether more educational.

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

We do love a spooky read or three at Halloween, and Penguin have a dazzlingly brilliant selection of books to tempt kids this year, truly something for everyone and all ages.

We'll kick off with "First Prize for The Worst Witch" by Jill Murphy.

Released back in September, this is the latest outing for Mildred Hubble, the titular magical mighty girl who never seems far away from chaos and cauldrons.

Even though she's the worst witch at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, her heart is always in the right place and she's the best friend anyone could ever wish for.

The story begins as summer term has started at Miss Cackle's Academy. Astonishingly, Mildred has made it through to Year 4 without being kicked out - and this year she has her eyes firmly on a very particular goal. 
But the Detective Society is never far away from danger, and it's clear there's trouble afoot at the Rue.

Jealousy, threats and horrible pranks quickly spiral out of control - and then a body is found.

Now Hazel and Daisy must take centre stage and solve the crime before the murderer strikes again.

When the late great Helen Nicoll passed away, I remember feeling genuine sadness at the loss of such a huge talent - and an author who in no small part introduced me to a great love of reading very early on.

Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski with their greatest collaborative creation, Meg and Mog

Here at ReadItDaddy we were very sad to hear that Helen Nicoll, Author of the sublime Meg and Mog books, has passed away at the age of 74.

With her long-time collaborator and illustrator friend Jan Pienkowski, Helen created the best selling Meg and Mog books.

What's this what's this?!? A new Meg and Mog book appeared in the local library's stacks and though it was originally published in October last year, it's taken a while to filter through. Nevertheless it's fantastic to see Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski still producing these fantastic little books for a new generation of toddlers, books I remember loving to bits as a kid. 

In "Meg goes to Bed" poor Meg has a disastrous attempt at producing a nice wholesome supper for Mog, Owl and herself. With wobbly stripey spaghetti worms crawling off all over the place, poor Meg goes to bed with a rumbling tummy and it's up to Owl and Mog to save the day. 

Though the same slightly disjointed and jumbled page layouts remain, the book has timeless appeal and I almost feel bad for falling out of love a bit with these when they really are great for youngsters (of all ages :)

While you're tapping your foot impatiently waiting for the next Winnie Witch book, treat yourself to a new Meg and Mog book for a spell (pun intended) instead. 

Charlotte's best bit: Animated spaghetti!


Daddy's favourite bit: Still find Meg oddly reminiscent of Ruth from "Victorian Farm" 

I kept mistyping this one as "Mog in the Dog" which might've made for a mildly more entertaining read than "Mog in the Fog". I am at the mercy of Charlotte who always seems to have a habit of finding the Meg and Mog books in the library, even though I try my best to steer her away from them. This is standard Meg and Mog fare. Meg and Mog go on a trip (always leaving Owl at home, what DOES Owl get up to while they're away eh?). Mog gets into trouble. Meg casts a spell, possibly causing more trouble, Meg and Mog fly home. In fact the odd thing is, you could pretty much cut and paste the text from Meg's Mummy straight into this book and I doubt anyone would notice. 

Charlotte loves 'em though so like the dutiful dad I keep getting them and reading them to her.

Charlotte's best bit: "What's that daddy? What's a Yeti?"

Daddy's favourite bit: Buttery tea

Rating: 2 out of 5

Published by Puffin



Oh dear. I think we've overdosed on Meg and Mog books and it took a slightly lacklustre entry in the series to finally turn Charlotte off the books altogether. Though this could coincide with her interest in dressing up as a Princess rather than dressing up as a witch (oh the humanity, a month before Halloween too!)

This Meg and Mog adventure sees the Trynamic Trio off on a picnic in a distinctly odd looking vehicle. As you've come to expect from Meg's spells, things don't quite go according to plan when she tries to conjure up a magic car to take them on their day out. Though it's a fairly throwaway story it has its moments, but Charlotte really didn't think much of this in comparison to the other books in the series we've covered in this blog. Ah well...

Charlotte's Best Bit: Mog's choice of car. 

Daddy's favourite bit: Meg hanging upside down from a branch with her dress over her head. 


 

Amazon Link: £3.51






Another classic book from my childhood (yes they had books back then that weren't printed on papyrus) and no toddler book blog would be complete without at least one Meg and Mog book. There are a heck of a lot of books in the range but this is definitely one of the better ones. Meg conjures up a spaceship to take Mog on a birthday jaunt to the moon. Short and sweet but I can't for the life of me shake the thought that Meg looks exactly like Ruth Goodman from Victorian Farm / Pharmacy. 

Charlotte's best bit: Leapfrog with the astronauts. 

Daddy's favourite bit: The space food. 

Rating: 4 out of 5