Mog is a fictional cat character in a series of children's books written by Judith Kerr. 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. [1] [2]
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Kerr based her illustrations of the house in which the family live on her own family home in Barnes, London, and the two children were named after the middle names of her own son and daughter, Matthew and Tacy. [3] The family name "Thomas" is from the first name of her husband, Nigel Kneale, upon whom the appearance of Mr Thomas was based. [3]
In November 2015, the character was featured in a Christmas advert for Sainsbury's, titled Mog's Christmas Calamity. [4] [5] The advert features Mog accidentally starting a fire on Christmas Eve and causing substantial damage to the Thomas family's house; her climbing across a telephone dials 999, leading to the fire brigade's intervention. Mog is hailed a hero, and the townspeople rally to fix the Thomases' house and host a large Christmas party there. Kerr herself appeared 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's child literacy work. [5] [6] [7]
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 word for a cat that is not a specific breed.
