The children’s library, when I was a child, was a magical place. The walls were full of bookshelves and in the middle of the room there were boxes of books. All kinds of little kid books. Adventure, animals, pirates and best of all witches. It was in one of those crammed full boxes I found Meg and Mog.
Meg, the incompetent witch, and her sidekicks Mog the striped cat and Owl became my favourites. You could keep fluffy bunnies and swashbuckling, one legged sea captains — I’d take Meg, thank you very much. She had a broomstick, a cauldron and could conjure (unsuccessfully) with cool words.
The series was first published in the 1970s and the collection of stories about Meg has risen to 16. I had no idea there were so many now until I did a little nosing around on the interent. Just like I didn’t know the illustrator Jan Pieńkowski is a man! I’d assumed he was a she.
I found a collection of Meg and Mog books when my sons were little. I think it included the titles ‘Meg and Mog’, ‘Meg’s Eggs’, ‘Meg on the Moon’, ‘Meg’s Castle’ and ‘Meg’s Car’. I loved this book. I could almost see the sheer horror in my sons’ eyes when I’d get that book out. I’m pretty sure they were thinking along the lines of ‘that crazy woman has got that damn book out again’. Or something like that.
These are great kids books to read. They’re fun, colourful and have some great rhyming words. I’d love to get my hands on some to read to my daughter who’s approaching the grand, old age of 3. I’m sure she’d love them. Oh no… wait… that’s me