Judith Kerr, beloved British author of The Tiger Who Came to Tea, dies aged 95

Judith Kerr, the author and illustrator whose debut picture book The Tiger Who Came to Tea introduced generations of preschool children to the joyful chaos of uncontrolled appetites, died at home at the age of 95 after a short illness, her publisher said on Thursday.

Kerr, who dreamed up the tiger to amuse her two children, only started publishing in her 40s, and lived to see the Tiger reach its millionth sale as she turned 94. To her mild chagrin, it remained her best loved single book: “I’ve got better at drawing, obviously,” she told one interviewer.

Over a 50-year career she published more than 30 further books, immortalising a succession of family cats through the naughty but lovable Mog, and bringing to life her family’s flight across Europe as the Nazis came to power in the novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.

Her publisher at HarperCollins Children’s Books, Ann-Janine Murtagh, said it had been “the greatest honour and privilege to know and publish Judith Kerr for over a decade”, describing her as a person who “embraced life as one great big adventure and lived every day to the full”.

“She came to visit our offices frequently – always bringing her books in person; often arriving on the number nine bus and leaving us all full of laughter and in awe of her astonishing zest for life and absolute commitment to delivering the very best books for children,” said Murtagh. “Her incisive wit and dry humour made her both excellent company and a joy to publish … Her characters and books have delighted generations of children and provided some of the first and fondest reading memories of childhood.”