Judith Kerr
Judith Kerr was born on 14 June 1923 in Berlin but escaped from Hitler's Germany with her parents and brother in 1933 when she was nine years old. Her father was a drama critic and a distinguished writer whose books were burned by the Nazis. The family passed through Switzerland and France before arriving finally in England in 1936.
Judith went to eleven different schools, worked in the Red Cross during the war, and won a scholarship to the Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1945. Since then, she has worked as an artist, a BBC television scriptwriter and, for many decades now, as author and illustrator of children's books.
Judith has a daughter who is a designer and a son who is a novelist. She lives in London.
Judith won our Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
Books
Goodbye Mog
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Interest age: 2-5
Reading age: 6+
Mog helps a new kitten settle into life with the Thomas family afer she passes away.
Katinka’s Tail
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Interest age: 2+
Reading age: 3+
Katinka is an ordinary and lovely white pussycat – apart from her tail, which is stripy. This is a beautiful, funny, warm and tender picture book, which takes a joyous and magical twist at the end. Fans of Judith Kerr’s Mog books will love it, of course...
Mister Cleghorn's Seal
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Interest age: 2-5
Reading age: 6+
What do you do if you find an abandoned seal pup on a rock in the middle of the sea? Well, take it home with you to your flat, of course
Mog and Me
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Interest age: 2-5
Reading age: 6+
Follow Mog and a little boy through their busy day. From when they wake up in the morning with a big stretch until when they fall fast asleep curled up together
Mog the Forgetful Cat
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Interest age: 2+
Reading age: 6+
Reformatted and reissued, Mog the Forgetful Cat has lost none of its gentle charm.
Mog's Christmas
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Interest age: 4+
Reading age: 5+
The house is full of strange bustling, there are new noises and new smells, and where is that tree going? Disconcerted by all the unusual activities, Mog escapes to the roof, and there she stays… until, unexpectedly, she returns with a bump!
My First Mog ABC
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins
Interest age: 3-6
Reading age: 5+
You don’t have to be a Mog fan to appreciate this new Mog alphabet book, as the iconic illustrations are just as charming without a story, and indeed might prompt new readers to seek out the original stories.
One Night in the Zoo
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Interest age: 2+
Reading age: 6+
This rhyming counting book is set in a zoo and follows the antics of the various animal inhabitants once night falls.
The Crocodile Under the Bed
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Interest age: 2-5
Reading age: 6+
Matty is sick, and very sad because he's too sick to go to the Queen's birthday party! But when he gets an unexpected visitor, it seems that Matty might not miss out after all...
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Author: Judith Kerr
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Partly autobiographical, this is first of the internationally acclaimed trilogy by Judith Kerr telling the unforgettable story of a Jewish family fleeing from Germany at the start of the World War II.