Judith Kerr’s Creatures: A Celebration of Her Life and Work

This is the best Auto-Biography EVER. What a totally gorgeous book.I love the beautiful illustrations, its full of beautiful full colour pictures throughout.One of the first books I can remember reading was ' Mog the Forgetful Cat', and it's still a firm favourite. I also enjoyed 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea', but it was a long time before I got the connection that this was same Author who wrote, 'Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit'.This auto-biograpghy is brilliant, as it shows Judith's work, from her earliest drawings, to her latest work, shows how she developed as an artist, and how and what she learnt. It also tells about different projects she has worked on, such as textiles, when she first started out, and she worked in Television, when it first started, which I didn't know, and how she got on the path of being an illustrator and Children's Author.The book is full of the most fascintating and beautiful drawings and artwork in full colour, its a feast for the eyes, as well as a really enjoyable read. I loved this book, and will definitely read it again.

This is the most fabulous book ever. I love all the Judith Kerr books. They are a dream to read to children as the stories are beautifully written and illustrated so keeps their attention. My 3 year old particularly enjoys the mog ones. Saw this book about Judith’s work and life and thought I would get it. So glad I did, it’s so interesting and wonderfully written. I liked all her drawings too. I couldn’t put it down! What an amazing lady and writer!

Illustration students should almost certainly look at this book, if not own it. It has so much of Judith's process inside, which is a fascinating look into the mechanics of picture book construction - from the seed of an idea (where do they come from?...Judith effortlessly shares her source of ideas) - to the technicalities of character drawings. There really is so much that is useful in here, for anyone who is interested in or embarking on their own career in illustration.Judith's personal life is just as fascinating and it heartens the reader to know the struggles from whence she came - a real life triumph of good over evil - Judith dedicates her book to all of the Jewish children who were 'not as lucky as I was' - how lucky we all are that she was one of the holocaust survivors, for she has brought much joy to so many with her wonderful characters.Well worth the money.

I came across this book whilst getting more Mog books for my daughter (her favourites) and I read the intro and thought her life sounds interesting, and it is! She tells how she escaped Germany and fled to Paris then on to England giving insights to what it must have been like for a refugee in war time - a different view from all my history lessons at school. She also talks about how she came to write the Mog series and gives little stories of her own cats that she made into a Mog book. It was a joy to read. Well worth every penny. BTW this book is big, I originally bought it for a holiday read but its a heavy A4 hardback!

I've been a fan of Judith Kerr since I was a child, so this was a must buy. It's basically an illustrated autobiography and it's as wonderfully moving as her other books. Beautifully written, really touching, you can see her spirit shine through so well and I still want to adopt her as my honorary grandmother (which would be pretty disrespectful to my real grandmother who actually introduced me to her!).Seeing her art progress (from remarkable childhood drawings through designs to her beloved children's characters) is also fascinating to see.

I have ad mired Judith Kerr for years and this book sums up her life and work brilliantly

Superbly presented. A really beautiful book.

A great book written by an understanding author. Very easy reading for small children. A good plot that young children enjoy.

Seit ich "Als Hitler das Rosa Kaninchen stahl" gelesen habe, hat mich diese Frau fasziniert.Deshalb habe ich sowohl eine Biographie als auch diese Autobiographie der Autorin und Illustratorin mit Interesse gelesen.In ihren Vorträgen und Interviews klingt sie ebenfalls sehr witzig.

Precioso. Hace mucho que lo. buscaba.

This is an amazing book for anyone who loves Judith Kerr and her work. I would recommend to read this book after reading the three novels that compose "Out of the Hitler time". It gives more details to each of those time periods, and as she says, she gives more facts. The book includes pictures of her and her family throughout the years, as well as sketches of her early paintings and textiles.The book has a hard cover and it is quite big. It has a lot of quality.This is a must have for any collector of Judith Kerr's work, for anybody interested in her life or anybody interested in drawing.

excellent

Ein wunderbarer, sehr ausführlich bebilderter Überblick über Judith Kerrs Leben und Werk, so reizend und humorvoll geschrieben wie alle ihre Texte. Immer wieder ist ihre tiefe Dankbarkeit gegenüber den Eltern, die die Familie vor Hitlers Verfolgung gerettet und den Kindern ein trotz aller Widrigkeiten glückliches Aufwachsen ermöglicht haben, zu spüren. Zu Kerrs autobiographischen Romanen erhält man hier einige Hintergrundinformationen, etwa über den Aufenthalt der Geschwister bei den Großeltern in Nizza, nachdem die Eltern die Pariser Wohnung aufgegeben hatten, und dem traurigen Schicksal der Wandgemälde in dem Café, die in "Warten bis der Frieden kommt" geschildert werden. Auch Judith Kerrs Ausbildung in England und ihre Ehe mit Nigel Kneale werden ausführlich thematisiert. Sehr hübsch auch die Passagen zu den Hintergründen der Bilderbücher, nicht nur zu den bekannten Mog-Geschichten und deren "Sitz im Leben" mit urkomischen Berichten über reale Katzen, die in der Familie Kneale gelebt haben, sondern auch zu jüngeren Produktionen wie dem rührenden Bilderbuch "My Henry" oder der "Granny Gang". Ein wunderschönes Buch, das man ruhig auch "auf Vorrat" kaufen kann - für Kinder, die jetzt Judith Kerrs Kinder- oder Jugendbücher lesen und sich später vielleicht dankbar zurückerinnern werden und mehr über die Autorin erfahren wollen.