Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005

Judith Kerr


Listen Later

This week Sue's castaway is Judith Kerr - a writer and illustrator known to generations of children both for her charming Mog picture-books and for her careful rendering of the life of a Jewish child fleeing Nazi Germany. Judith Kerr escaped with her family on the day the Nazis were elected. The following day, police turned up at the doorstep in a belated attempt to confiscate their passports. The Kerr family moved across Europe, trying to support themselves and escape from the nearing threat, until they eventually settled in England in 1936. The family stayed in London throughout the war; surviving the Blitz and in fear of invasion. Judith Kerr wrote an autobiographical trilogy about her experiences and the books - in particular When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit - have been used ever since as a way of explaining to children the horrors of the Nazi threat. Today, they are set texts in many German schools.

She was always a keen painter but had never thought it could be a career; it was only when she had two children who enjoyed the tales she told that she decided to try her hand at picture books. Her first book, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, was instantly successful when it was published in 1968 and has never been out of print. But it is probably her series of books about Mog the Cat that have won her most affection with children - over the past 30 years they have sold more than three million copies.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Kyrie - the Opening of Great Mass in C Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Book: A big, beautiful coffee table book of pictures by impressionists
Luxury: Pencils and thick paper to write and draw on

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005By BBC Radio 4

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

58 ratings


More shows like Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005

View all
Woman's Hour by BBC Radio 4

Woman's Hour

402 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

509 Listeners

Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs

2,005 Listeners

Desert Island Discs: Archive 1996-2000 by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs: Archive 1996-2000

50 Listeners

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010 by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010

150 Listeners

Desert Island Discs: Archive 1991-1996 by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs: Archive 1991-1996

79 Listeners

Private Passions by BBC Radio 3

Private Passions

44 Listeners

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2011-2015 by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2011-2015

52 Listeners

Manchester Arena Bomb: Stories of Hope by BBC Sounds

Manchester Arena Bomb: Stories of Hope

0 Listeners

When I Was 25 by BBC Radio Ulster

When I Was 25

0 Listeners

Би-Би-Си Кыргыз кызматы 25 жыл ободо by BBC Kyrgyz Radio

Би-Би-Си Кыргыз кызматы 25 жыл ободо

0 Listeners

Dad Boys with Dave Elliott and Shane Todd by BBC Radio Ulster

Dad Boys with Dave Elliott and Shane Todd

2 Listeners

QUB Talks 100 – The Partition of Ireland: Causes and Consequences by BBC Radio Ulster

QUB Talks 100 – The Partition of Ireland: Causes and Consequences

0 Listeners

Descendants by BBC Radio 4

Descendants

13 Listeners

The Listening Project by BBC Radio 4

The Listening Project

6 Listeners

The Great Post Office Trial by BBC Radio 4

The Great Post Office Trial

31 Listeners

Siarad Moel: Podlediad Aled Hughes by BBC Radio Cymru

Siarad Moel: Podlediad Aled Hughes

1 Listeners

Що це було by BBC Ukrainian Audio

Що це було

4 Listeners

Comfort Eating with Grace Dent by The Guardian

Comfort Eating with Grace Dent

134 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

103 Listeners

Desert Island Discs: Archive: 2016-2018 by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs: Archive: 2016-2018

27 Listeners

Joanna Lumley & The Maestro by Bauer Media

Joanna Lumley & The Maestro

47 Listeners

Brydon & by Rob Brydon | Wondery

Brydon &

89 Listeners

Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth by Gyles Brandreth / Plain Jaine Productions / Keep It Light Media

Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth

302 Listeners

Young Again by BBC Radio 4

Young Again

52 Listeners