‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ author Judith Kerr dies at 95

LONDON — Judith Kerr, author and illustrator of the bestselling “The Tiger Who Came to Tea” and other beloved children’s books, has died at the age of 95.

HarperCollins chief executive Charlie Redmayne announced her death Thursday. The publisher said she died at her home on Wednesday after a brief illness.

Kerr “was a brilliantly talented artist and storyteller who has left us an extraordinary body of work,” he said.

The beguiling story of the tea-drinking tiger has been shared by parents with young children since it was first published in 1968 and has never been out of print. It has sold more than 5 million copies.

Her next book introduced Mog the cat, who starred in some 15 books and developed a large following until “Goodbye Mog” was published in 2002.

The popular feline was brought back in 2015 for “Mog’s Christmas Calamity,” which raised more than 1 million pounds for a literacy campaign with charity Save the Children.

Her third book, “When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit”, was an autobiographical story based on her family’s escape from Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

Kerr was born in Berlin but left Germany with her family in 1933 to escape Nazi tyranny. The family settled in England, where she studied art and worked as a scriptwriter at BBC.

She kept writing throughout her life. Her next book, “The Curse of the School Rabbit,” is set for publication in June.

She is survived by her children Matthew and Tacy and her grandchildren.

The Associated Press

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