Judith Kerr Books In Order

Publication Order of Out of the Hitler Time Books

Publication Order of Mog the Forgetful Cat Books

Publication Order of Picture Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Born on 14 June 1923, in Berlin, Germany, Judith Kerr is a British Author, popularly known for the critically acclaimed book, the Tiger who Came to Tea and the children’s book series, the Mog series. In the year 1933, Judith Kerr and her parents escaped Nazi Germany and relocated to the United Kingdom.
The main reason why Kerr’s family ran away from Nazi Germany was because her father was a person of interest to the ruling regime. Kerr’s father was a distinguished author and a drama critic, who many at times had his books burnt by the Nazis. Before arriving in England, the family had to pass through Switzerland and France. While growing up, Judith Kerr attended more than ten schools, mainly because their family was always on the move.

Upon completing her high school education, Kerr served with the Red Cross for several years. Later on, she secured a scholarship to attend the Central School of, Arts and Crafts. After completing her education, Judith Kerr served as a television scriptwriter for BBC. During this period, she also served as an artist, illustrator, and an author. Three of her autobiographical books emphasize on her early wandering childhood years, her return to Berlin and her adolescence years in London. All the three autobiographies performed extremely well. In Germany, many schools still use her autobiographies as an introduction to Germany history.

Judith Kerr Best Books
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
As a mother and daughter are waiting for father to return from work, they receive an unexpected visitor: a tiger. A tiger had decided to camp at their door. After thinking for a while, the mother decides to invite the tiger in to have some tea and buns. However, the tiger was extremely hungry, and thus it ends up consuming all the food and water in the house from all the taps. After the meal, the tiger eventually leaves. When father arrives, he decides to take mother and daughter to a cafe, since the tiger consumed everything in the house. On the following day, mother and daughter head to the supermarket to purchase more food and also a can of food for the tiger, in case he decides to visit them again. With that said, the humor in the narrative comes from the book’s typical picture-book irony.

Young readers will expect the young girl to become terrified when she realizes that a ferocious tiger, was standing at their door. However, the girl and her mother are delighted and even decide to treat the tiger as a visitor. The humor in the book continues, when the tiger goes against the social norms by eating more than what the hosts offer him. Moreover, the tiger also drinks all the “water in the tap,” which is somewhat impossible. Author Kerr decides to take the irony of non-surprise a little bit further when he comes home and realizes that there is no food in the house. Instead of getting angry, he decides to turn the scenario into a special occasion by treating the daughter and mother, with a trip to the local cafe.

The Tiger who Came to Tea is a classic example of a carnivalesque text. Carnivalesque texts are types of book forms, where the child characters go against the normal subject positions, fabricated for children within the social theoretical frames.

Mog, the Forgetful Cat
In Mog the Forgetful Cat author Judith Kerr introduces the readers to Mog, a cat owned by the Thomas family. All members of the Thomas family see Mog as a nuisance mainly because he tends to get on everyone’s wrong side. Nonetheless, despite the fact that Mog constantly gets on everyone’s wrong side, he has a favorite in the family, Debbie. Things begin to change one day when Debbie experiences a nightmare, whereby a tiger was trying to eat her. Upon waking up, she finds out that Mog had managed to sneak into her room and camped by her bedside. From that day, Debbie begins to despise Mog mainly because she believes she was the reason why she was experiencing the nightmare. Throughout the novel, author Judith Kerr shows Mog’s forgetfulness and the reaction that the family has each time Mog forgets something. Everyone in the Thomas family despises Mog the cat now including Debbie. One day, when a burglar breaks into the house, Mog manages to yowl out loud. Immediately, everyone in the house wakes up and rush downstairs to find out what was happening.

By yowling, Mog the cat manages to stop the burglar from stealing. From that day, Mog became a hero, and all the members of the Thomas family begin to treat Mog as one of their own. From time to time, the family members give Mog her favorite meals and drinks. With that said, Mog the Forgetful cat is a witty narrative, which will leave the young readers intrigued. Apart from being fairly short, the narrative is also fun. Author Kerr manages to show the readers that what many may regard as a bad attribute, may soon become quite handy. Mog, the Forgetful Cat, is ideal for children in Key Stage 2, where the children may have to guess the family reaction when Mog manages to forget something.

Mog’s Christmas
The book begins a night before Christmas. The Thomas family is having a peaceful night, except Mog. Mog’s tail accidentally gets tangled in tinsel, which catches fire. While trying to get away from the tinsel, Mog spreads the fire across the house. The entire family wakes up and immediately calls the fire brigade. Upon their arrival, Mog leads them into the house. The narrative comes to an end when all the neighbors decide to bring Christmas into Thomas’s family house. Author Judith Kerr concludes the narrative with a touching ending, where she shows the readers the importance of coming together in the event of a calamity. With that said, Mog was well developed and quite realistic as well. As usual, Mog is a classic character, who is constantly up to mischief. Just like in the previous installments Mog is quite forgetful.

With the assistance of the illustrations, Mog is brought to life. The art style used in Mog’s Christmas is hand drawn with crayons and pencils. Apart from being comforting, the art style is child-friendly. Mog’s Christmas is ideal for children between ages three and six.