My First Mog ABC by Judith Kerr
| My First Mog ABC by Judith Kerr | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Sam Tyler
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| Summary: Mog returns in a series of charming memories that teach you your ABCs, but also make you fall in love with the character all over again. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: June 2017 |
| Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 9780008245504 | |
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There are few children's series that have been as long lasting as Judith Kerr's Mog books and even though the cat may no longer be with us, there is a huge back catalogue of old stories and images that could be repurposed. In the wrong hands reusing old Mog images would seem like a crass cash in, but done right, they could still hold the same sentimental appeal that the daft old cat has for so many people. Which way does My First Mog ABC fall?
Learning your ABCs with Mog gives you the chance to learn your alphabet once again, but this time from the perspective of a rather dim, but happy cat. Using images from the previous books, a list of Mog adventures has been created from A to Z including C for Cats of course, but also E for Eggs. All the items are linked by Mog or her family.
The important element that Mog ABC had to achieve was keep the charm of the original books and thankfully this is the case. ABC books by their very nature are often disjointed affairs as there is no story and instead a seemingly random selection of items reflecting different letters. That is the case here, but instead of feeling disjointed, the book feels like an old photo album full of memories. Each letter has its own illustration and even the simplest one is evocative. A lot of this will be down to memories of Mog from my youth, but they all hold up on their own as Kerr's illustrations have a timeless appeal. As long as that time in the 70s.
As an education tool, the book works by simply giving you the capital and lower case of a letter and then a word e.g. Bb is for Baby. However, some of the images also come with a little quote from one of the books that brings back fond memories and also tell you something about the picture. Therefore, an image of Mog with a baby is made more amusing by the sarcastic note that Mog loves babies, when she clearly does not. It is sometimes difficult to untangle feelings of nostalgia for something like Mog ABC with the actual book, but there is easily enough in the fun images and basic ABC format to appeal to a toddler. What is extra special is that something that could have been published just as a way of making more money from the IP actually has the same level of charm as the originals.
If you enjoy this ABC book, then the original stories are certainly worth reading.
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You can read more book reviews or buy My First Mog ABC by Judith Kerr at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy My First Mog ABC by Judith Kerr at Amazon.com.
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