Judith Kerr, 94, announces new book: Katinka’s Tail

Judith Kerr, author of The Tiger Who Came To Tea and the Mog the cat books, has announced a new title – at the age of 94.

Katinka’s Tail was inspired by the much-loved author’s current and ninth cat.

It will hit the shelves 47 years after her first Mog book, Mog The Forgetful Cat, was published.

Executive publisher Ann-Janine Murtagh said: “Judith Kerr is a simply extraordinary picture book creator – the vitality of this new tale with its whimsical wit and beautifully observed illustrations of Katinka and her rather delightful owner sees Judith on absolutely top form.

“I am quite simply over-the-moon with the wonder that she has delivered in Katinka’s Tail!”

The author said of her pet Katinka: “She is a ridiculous-looking white cat with a tabby tail that looks as though it belonged to somebody else.”

Katinka’s Tail is Kerr’s first picture book about a new cat since Mog.

It tells the story of a “perfectly ordinary cat with a not-so-ordinary tail”, and features a “wondrous journey into a forest and on to the moon”.

Kerr, who was made an OBE in 2013, has also written about her childhood experiences fleeing Nazi Germany with her family and coming to England.

The book will be published by HarperCollins in hardback on October 19.