Meg and Mog Birthday Book

Meg and Mog

by Helen Nicoll, Jan Pieńkowski (Artist)

Meg and Mog help to remember birthdays of family, friends and pets.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Helen Nicoll was born in Natland, Westmorland, in 1937. She was educated at schools in Bristol; Dartington Hall, Devon; and Froebel Education Institute, London. Helen Nicoll married Robert Kime in 1970 and they have one daughter and one son.

Helen Nicoll was a television producer with the BBC for many years. It was here, as Producer of the children's educational series WATCH, that she first met Jan Pienkowski. After working together for four years, they decided it was time to preserve their creativity in book form for future generations of children to enjoy. The result is the immensely popular MEG AND MOG series.

In addition to the MEG AND MOG series, Helen has a long and varied association with Puffin - as editor of the Junior Puffin magazine THE EGG from 1977 - 1979, as compiler of the popular children's poetry anthology POEMS FOR SEVEN YEAR OLDS AND UNDER, illustrated by Michael Foreman, and through her partnership with Puffin, the enormously popular series of Puffin Cover to Cover story tapes of which Helen is the Producer.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1979, this ninth Meg and Mog title is not a picture-book in the traditional sense, but a birthday book with picture-book elements. Each two-page spread features a calendar on one side, for the owner to record birthdays, and a picture and poem featuring Meg, Mog and Owl on the other. From January - "When your nose / And toes are freezing / Spider soup / Soon stops you sneezing" - to December - "Owl is giving Meg a bat / Mog is giving Meg a hat / She is giving them the tree / What's your present going to be?" - each poem and illustration (many of the latter taken from preexisting Meg and Mog books) marks the season, making this an appealing seasonal concept book, as well as a birthday record. Fans of this witchy/feline/strigine trio will find much to entertain them here, even if they aren't looking for a birthday book.