Name Judith Kerr Role Writer | Parents Julia Kerr, Alfred Kerr Siblings Michael Kerr | |
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Genre Children's and young adult fiction Children Matthew Kneale, Tacy Kneale Books The Tiger Who Came to Tea, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Mog the Forgetful Cat, Mog's Christmas, Mog Forgetful Cat Book Similar People | ||
Judith kerr 5x15 when hitler stole my pink rabbit
Judith Kerr, OBE (surname pronounced [kɛʁ]; born 14 June 1923) is a British writer and illustrator. She has created both enduring picture books such as the Mog series and The Tiger Who Came to Tea and acclaimed novels for older children such as the semi-autobiographical When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, which gave a child's-eye view of the Second World War. Born in Germany, of Jewish background, she came to Britain with her family in 1933 amid the rise of the Nazis.
Contents
- Judith kerr 5x15 when hitler stole my pink rabbit
- Writers in conversation shirley hughes and judith kerr
- Youth
- Life in London
- Books
- Legacy
- References
Writers in conversation shirley hughes and judith kerr
Youth
Kerr was born in Berlin, the daughter of Alfred Kerr (1867–1948), a German-Jewish theatre critic who had changed his name from Kempner to Kerr in 1887, by his marriage to Julia Weismann (1898-1965), the daughter of a Prussian politician. Judith Kerr had a brother, Michael.
In 1933, just before the Nazis came to power, the family left Germany, fearful because Alfred Kerr had openly criticised the Nazis. Alfred Kerr's books were burned by the Nazis shortly after he fled Germany. The family travelled first to Switzerland and then on to France, before finally settling in Britain, where Judith Kerr has lived ever since. She subsequently became a naturalised British subject.
Life in London
During the Second World War, Judith Kerr worked for the Red Cross, helping wounded soldiers, before being awarded a scholarship to study at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and becoming an artist. She was later prompted by her future husband – screenwriter Nigel Kneale – to apply for a job as a BBC television scriptwriter. She got the job and she and Kneale were married in 1954; they remained married until Kneale's death in 2006. They had two children: their son Matthew Kneale is also a writer, winning the Book of the Year prize at the Whitbread Book Awards in 2000 for the novel English Passengers. Their daughter, Tacy Kneale, works in the special effects industry, and worked on the Harry Potter films. Tacy plans also to write children's books.
Books
Kerr is best known for her children's books. Although she dreamed of being a famous writer as a child, she only started writing and drawing books when her own children were learning to read. She has written self-illustrated picture titles such as the 17-strong Mog series and the highly successful The Tiger Who Came to Tea. She has written novels for children such as the semi-autobiographical Out of the Hitler Time trilogy (When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Bombs on Aunt Dainty (originally published as The Other Way Round) and A Small Person Far Away), tell the story of the rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany and life as a refugee, life in Britain during World War II and life during the post war years and the Cold War respectively, from a child's perspective. Again it was her children that occasioned this writing: when her son was eight he saw The Sound of Music and remarked "now we know what it was like when Mummy was a little girl". Kerr wanted him to know what it was really like and so wrote When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.
Kerr lives in Barnes, London, the same house she has lived in since 1962. She says that since the death of her husband writing has become more important than ever and she continues to write and illustrate new children's books with Twinkles, Arthur and Puss published in 2008 and One Night in the Zoo in 2009.
She won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1974 for her young adult novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.
Kerr was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to children's literature and Holocaust education.
Legacy
In 2013, Britain's first bilingual state school in English and German, the Judith Kerr Primary School in Herne Hill, south London, was named after her.