Judith Kerr was born in Berlin of German Jewish parents. Her father, Alfred Kerr, a distinguished writer, fiercely attacked the Nazis long before they came to power and the family had to flee the country in 1933 when Judith was nine years old.
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is based on Judith’s own experiences. The last-minute escape, village life in Switzerland, the family’s refugee existence in Paris and their final arrival in England were all part of her childhood. Two further books, Bombs on Aunt Dainty (formerly The Other Way Round) and A Small Person Far Away, deal with her growing up in wartime London, her time at art school and her marriage to the writer Nigel Kneale.
Judith is also well known as the author and illustrator of picture books of which the best-known are the hugely popular Mog stories and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, which has now been in print for over forty years. She lives in South-west London.