Author Judith Kerr dies aged 95
May 23, 2019
Berlin-born British author Judith Kerr has died at the age of 95, her publisher announced Thursday.
"It is with much sadness that we confirm the death of our beloved author and illustrator, Judith Kerr," Harper Collins said on Twitter.
Kerr wrote and illustrated many classic children's titles, including The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Released in 1968, the book sold over 5 million copies and was published in more than 30 languages.
Escape from Germany
Her most famous work in Germany was When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, the story of her flight to England from Nazi Germany with her Jewish family in 1933.
"Everything important was exactly as such; I wrote it as honestly as I could," Kerr told DW in an interview last year. "When you write in the first person, everything has to be exactly as it was — otherwise, you're cheating."
It won the prestigious Youth Book Prize in Germany, and in 1993 a school was named after Kerr in her native Berlin.
Her father Alfred Kerr was a prominent theater critic vehemently opposed to Hitler. When the Nazis came to power, the family escaped to London via Switzerland and France.
After World War II, Judith Kerr worked as an art teacher and for the BBC, before taking time out to raise her children. She invented the tale of the tiger to amuse her young daughter. Her enthusiasm for the story prompted Kerr to put it down on paper.
rt/rm (AFP, Reuters)