Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
Birthday Wondering what to do for your son or daughter’s 18th birthday party? From themed decorations, tableware and accessories to balloons, invitations and personalised banners, we have all the ideas and inspiration you need to give them the celebration they deserve! Once there was a cat called Mog. She lived with a family called Thomas. Mog was nice but not very clever. She didn’t understand a lot of things. A lot of other things she forgot. She was a very forgetful cat.” So begins Judith Kerr’s picture book “ Mog the Forgetful Cat,” published in England in 1970. Though this was only the first of Kerr’s “Mog” volumes—which ended up numbering more than a dozen by the time the last of the bunch, “ Goodbye Mog,” came out, in 2002—these opening lines establish the series’ rhythm and sensibility. Kerr, who died in May, at the age of ninety-five, having published more than thirty much beloved books in the course of her career, once said that she tried never to use more than two hundred and fifty words in any of her books, so that young children could follow along. But it was, perhaps, exactly this limitation that heightened her ability to pinpoint, with a beautiful specificity, the character of her feline protagonist. Just like Mog—a stout, friendly tabby with a round face, a white bib, and white paws, who gets into a variety of small domestic scrapes because of her limited grasp of the world around her—Kerr’s language is simple and a little plodding. The sentences are short and of consistent length—not unlike the padded footfalls of a rotund cat—and, in their occasional repetitiveness, mimic a feline’s clumsy thinking. Birthday Wondering what to do for your son or daughter’s 30th birthday party? From themed decorations, tableware and accessories to balloons, invitations and personalised banners, we have all the ideas and inspiration you need to give them the celebration they deserve! Mog is a very forgetful cat. She forgets that she has a cat flap, she forgets that she’s already eaten her supper, and she forgets that cats don’t have eggs for breakfast every day. Bother that cat!
Read the story aloud to your child pausing to talk about the story or illustrations when your child wants to. Join in Original songs have been especially created for the show, particularly catchy is ‘Bother that Cat’; an important catchphrase of the show. An exciting trip to the V.E.T (shhh don’t say it aloud!) occurs, where the witty concept of owners evolving to look like their pets works well for the adults in the audience. Choreography in the form of a cat chase and a cat show group dance is visually pleasant.We are introduced to Mr Bunce and a talented pianist and trumpet-player, who keeps the tempo up throughout. We meet Mog’s classic 2.4 family, The Thomas’ and we are cheerily introduced to the local wildlife in the form of Budsey the playful Bunny Rabbit, Beaky the chatty Parrot, Yuppy the angry chair biting dog and we patiently wait in excited trepidation to meet the absolute star of the show, the brilliant Mog played by Georgina Goodchild. While the late Judith Kerr will be forever best known for her mildly unsettling picture-book classic ‘The Tiger Who Came for Tea’, she also spread joy to generations of kids with another, more-lovable feline: Mog. The accident-prone tabby debuted in 1970’s ‘Mog the Forgetful Cat’, and enjoyed three decades of gentle adventures with the Thomas family before poignantly meeting her end in 2002’s ‘Goodbye, Mog’. Mog meows, yowls and purrs, Goodchild moves convincingly with the true grace of a cat, truly embodying the movement and mannerisms and so we fully believe the action. Birthday Wondering what to do for your son or daughter’s 1st birthday party? From themed decorations, tableware and accessories to balloons, invitations and personalised banners, we have all the ideas and inspiration you need to give them the celebration they deserve! Paint a picture of Mog. Your child could decide whether to paint her looking sad or happy. Make a book about Mog
Birthday Wondering what to do for your son or daughter’s 60th birthday party? From themed decorations, tableware and accessories to balloons, invitations and personalised banners, we have all the ideas and inspiration you need to give them the celebration they deserve! Age 3-5 years Mog is a loveable family pet. Mum and Dad sometimes find she can be a bit of a nuisance though, particularly when it comes to remembering she has a cat flap. One day Mog gets into all sorts of trouble. She ends up alone in the garden at night feeling very sorry for herself. But when she unwittingly disturbs a burglar, suddenly she becomes a hero, and everyone is praising her instead of grumbling about her. Now a picture book classic, first published over forty years ago, this is a warm, humorous and enjoyable story about a very appealing if rather hapless cat who saves the day. Share the story Read aloud Birthday Wondering what to do for your son or daughter’s 21st birthday party? From themed decorations, tableware and accessories to balloons, invitations and personalised banners, we have all the ideas and inspiration you need to give them the celebration they deserve! Make a badge for Mog from a circle of card on a ribbon or string. Your child could decorate the badge with felt tip pens. Paint a picture If in “Tiger” Kerr describes miscommunication from the human perspective, the “Mog” books examine it from that of the animal. For Kerr, the chief problem with being a cat is that your needs often come up against those of an uncomprehending or unwilling world. Often, however, the books rely on such misapprehension not just for their animating conflict but also for their resolution. When a burglar steals into the house in “Mog the Forgetful Cat,” Mog, still sitting in the garden, meows “her biggest meow, very sudden and very, very loud,” hoping that the burglar will let her in through the kitchen window, as the family sometimes does. (“Perhaps he will give me my supper.”) The burglar, alarmed, drops his bag, waking the Thomases, who call the police. After the robber is caught, Mog, no longer a bothersome cat, is called “remarkable” by a policeman, awarded a medal, and given an egg for breakfast.
Returns
Judith Kerr’s series of Mog books have long been a staple of children’s bookshelves, delighting families of feline fans for over fifty years . Although cats don’t typically roam far from home, Mog is having quite the adventure as she tours across the UK. Adapted by The Wardrobe Ensemble (in a co-production with The Old Vic & Royal & Derngate, Northampton), Mog the Forgetful Cat is currently playing at The Old Vic, ahead of a summer stint at the Edinburgh Fringe. The piece is themed by the four seasons and the ensemble collectively work to ensure the audience remain engaged, by ensuring the energy levels are pitched perfectly.
When things do get going, Mr Bunce steps into the role of narrator, beginning – of course – with the tale of how Mog’s forgetfulness gets her into all sorts of trouble until she inadvertently thwarts a burglar and becomes the pride of Thomas household. It’s a nicely paced slink through the oldest and most familiar of the Mog tales before the fun ramps up for the slightly sillier more recent stories. Your child can tell the story to you using the pictures as prompts. You may find they use the same language as the story, or they may tell it using their own words. Watch the story read aloud Birthday Wondering what to do for your son or daughter’s 17th birthday party? From themed decorations, tableware and accessories to balloons, invitations and personalised banners, we have all the ideas and inspiration you need to give them the celebration they deserve! Birthday Wondering what to do for your son or daughter’s 40th birthday party? From themed decorations, tableware and accessories to balloons, invitations and personalised banners, we have all the ideas and inspiration you need to give them the celebration they deserve!
Your subscription helps ensure our journalism can continue
Mog is just relaxing at home when suddenly all hell breaks loose. Being a cat, she cannot just jump up and ask, “hey buddy what’s going on?”. However, instead she conducts her own investigation, and son the house fills up with people with objects hidden inside a paper wrapped in ribbon, people dancing around and drinking and soon a big fire tree is brought in a placed in the middle of the living room. To have some peaceful moments alone, Mog leaves the house and heads to the roof to get a bit of peace. She falls asleep on a cold white cloud and has some dreams chasing down a mouse. This is fun until when the cloud begins melting and soon Mog finds herself sliding down the chimney straight into the grate. After some unpleasant bath, Mog is treated to a conciliatory meal of soft boiled eggs and fish and then she is given some presents.
Great Deal 
New Comment