Mog is a fictional cat character in a series of children's books written by

Judith Kerr Anna Judith Gertrud Helene Kerr (surname pronounced ; 14 June 1923 – 22 May 2019) was a German-born British writer and illustrator whose books sold more than 10 million copies around the world.

. Other regularly occurring characters include Mr and Mrs Thomas (Mog's owners) and their two children Nicky and Debbie. In each book Mog gets into a different conundrum with a new character or event. Unusually for a popular children's series, Mog dies in the final book, 2001's ''Goodbye, Mog''. Kerr based her illustrations of the house in which the family live on her own family home in

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom * Barnes, London, England ** Barnes railway station **Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes High Stree ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and the two children were named after the middle names of her own son and daughter,

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...

and Tacy. The family name "Thomas" is from the first name of her husband,

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (18 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter and author, whose career spanned more than 50 years, between 1946 and 1997. Predominantly a writer of thrillers that used science-fiction and horror elemen ...

, upon whom the appearance of Mr Thomas was based. In November 2015, the character was featured in the Christmas advert for supermarket

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

. In ''Mog's Christmas Calamity'' Mog accidentally starts a fire in her home after having a bad dream, but is able to alert the fire brigade (as she had called 999 when scrabbling across a phone); she is hailed a hero for saving her owners, and (after her owners' neighbours pool their resources to undo the damage she had done, in reference to Sainsbury's "Christmas is for sharing" tagline) is later given an egg as a treat. Kerr herself appears in this advert as a neighbour of the Thomas family. A special plush Mog and book version of the story were sold exclusively through Sainsbury's, with all profits being donated to

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

's child literacy work. In 2019, 50 years since the publication of the first book, a new book was released titled ''Mog's Birthday'' in which a birthday party is thrown for Mog, to the cat's annoyance, but she comes to enjoy the celebration. "Mog" is a short form of

moggy A moggy is any cat which has not been intentionally bred. Moggies lack a consistent appearance unlike purebred cats that are selectively bred for appearance conforming to a standard. In contexts where cats need to be registered—such as in vet ...

, a word for a cat that is not a specific breed.

Publications

Titles include (with year of first publication): *''Mog the Forgetful Cat'' (1970) *''Mog's Christmas'' (1976) *''Mog and the Baby'' (1980) *''Mog in the Dark'' (1983) *''Mog and Me'' (1984) *''Mog's Family of Cats'' (1985) *''Mog's Amazing Birthday Caper'' (1986) *''Mog and Bunny'' (1987) *''Mog and Barnaby'' (also known as ''Look Out, Mog'', 1990) *''Mog on Fox Night'' (1992) *''Mog in the Garden'' (1993) *''Mog's Kittens'' (1994) *''Mog and the Granny'' (1996) *''Mog and the Vee Ee Tee'' (1997) *''Mog's Bad Thing'' (2000) *''Goodbye, Mog'' (2001) *''Mog's Christmas Calamity'' (2011) *''My First Mog Books (Mog’s Family, Mog’s Day, Mog Loves, Mog Plays)'' (2015) *''My First Mog 123'' (2017) *''Mog's Birthday'' (2019)

Adaptations

A 2023 play version of Mog started in April at the

Birmingham Rep Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

. A television adaption of ''Mog’s Christmas'' premiered on Christmas Eve 2023, on the UK's

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

References

Characters in children's literature Series of children's books Books about cats Books by Judith Kerr Literary characters introduced in 1970 {{child-lit-char-stub