Helen Nicoll (1937–2012)

Meg, Mog and Owl find themselves tumbling through time in this sixteenth entry in the Meg and Mog picture-book series, winding up in a prehistoric cave when one of Meg's spells, intended to create more room - "Cabbage & onion / Cavern & canyon / Bucket & broom / A big new room" - goes horribly (and predictably) wrong. Here they meet a caveman named Crom, as well as Og, the wooly mammoth he has captured, and intends to eat. Fortunately, Meg has plenty of bubble and squeak on hand, and their show more new stone-age friends are convinced to try it, rather than each other. But life in a cave is cold (not to mention messy), so the witchy/feline/strigine trio soon return to the present, leaving Crom and Og behind. Or so it seems...

As with previous entries in this series, there is a great synergy here between Helen Nicoll's text, split between the straightforward narrative, and the exclamations and sound words contained in the speech bubbles, and Jan Pieńkowski's brightly-coloured artwork, which invariably accentuates the humour in each scene, and often adds a new dimension to the story itself. There's plenty of visual fun in Meg, Mog and Og, as the trio take cover from bats in the opening scene, or Meg turns a bright red, and tears out her hair in frustration, when their living quarters get a little small - an image that the reader is shown from above. There is also beauty, as in the scene in which the characters are all depicted in silhouette - one of Pieńkowski's trademark styles - against receding circles of black, purple, blue and snowy-gray, together meant to represent the cave in which they are living. My favorite touch, though, would undoubtedly be the next-to-last page, which shows a hungry Og's red trunk reaching through the window, seemingly in search of some bubble and squeak, as Meg and Mog snore away, and Owl suspiciously keeps one eye open. Humorous and entertaining, this book will keep young readers involved through both story and art, and is recommended to younger children who enjoy witchy fare, or who are fans of these characters. show less

Meg and Mog set out to visit Egypt in this eighteenth picture-book adventure from author Helen Nicoll, and illustrator Jan Pieńkowski. Landing on the top of a pyramid, the witchy-feline duo soon encounter disaster (an inevitability in their outings), as Mog is injured when the cauldron in which he is riding goes bouncing down to the ground. Bandaging him up, Meg sets out to get help, only to find him missing when she returns! On the hunt for the missing Mog, she soon finds herself inside show more the pyramid, where the guide tries to interest her in the mummy of Ptolemy, whose three hundred cats were also made into mummies...

Like its predecessors, Meg's Mummy blends visually arresting artwork - bright colours, a simple but creative graphic layout, and excellent use of silhouette (one of Pieńkowski's trademarks) - with a simple story that is split between the main narrative and numerous speech bubbles and sound words. I can't say I found it a particularly outstanding entry in this long-running witchy series - personal favourites include the first title, Meg and Mog, as well as Meg's Castle (#5), Mog's Box (#13), and Meg, Mog and Og (#16) - although it was entertaining enough, and will no doubt appeal to fans of the earlier books. That said, I did wonder a bit at Helen Nicoll's decision to name her mummy Ptolemy, and to describe him as being 3000 years old. Assuming she is thinking of Ptolemy I Soter, the founder of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt, rather than the more famous mathematician of the same name, her dates are seven hundred or so years off. If she was indeed thinking of Claudius Ptolemy, then her dates are more than one thousand years off. Whichever it may be, this kind of blatant historical inaccuracy, even in books whose purpose is unrelated to historical instruction, is irritating enough to me that I subtracted half a star for it. I'm quite surprised that no editor spotted that one! show less

Mog the cat becomes progressively more jealous of Owl in this thirteenth entry in the Meg and Mog series, observing the wonderful lunches - beetle burgers, vole roles, hot frogs - that Meg prepares for him. When he demands a lunch box of his own, Meg's spell - "Pat of butter / Eye of fly / It may not work / But it's worth a try" - produces one that contains, not a juicy treat, but a growing caterpillar. Mog and Owl both observe as Meg searches for food for this new friend, who eventually show more creates a cocoon for himself, and emerges as a butterfly.

With the same simple text and brightly colored illustrations that have distinguished previous entries in the series, Mog's Box will provide an entertaining picture-book experience to young children. I found the scenes in which Mog becomes jealous - his expression becomes ever more hostile in each panel, from Tuesday to Friday, as he sees the lunches prepared for Owl - particularly droll, and his subsequent burst of frenetic rage quite hilarious. Readers familiar with the series will enjoy seeing the feline/strigine rivalry, hinted at in teasing comments back and forth between Mog and Owl in previous titles, expanded here. The development of the story itself, which shifts focus from Mog and Owl to the caterpillar, is a little less humorous, although still engaging. The two-page spread in which the caterpillar munches his way through a series of leaves is reminiscent of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. All in all, this was an amusing addition to a classic series. show less

One of four Meg and Mog adventures based on episodes from the television show—the others include Mog in Charge, Meg's Fancy Dress and Meg's Treasure—this book follows Meg, Mog and Owl as they confront a cauldron that just doesn't work magic any more. Taking the cauldron in for repairs, the trio are given a sparkly new cauldron, with all kinds of fancy buttons, to use in the meantime. After no end of chaos caused by the cauldron's eagerness to please, and literal interpretation of every show more comment it hears, they are relieved when this replacement finally does something useful, in restoring their original cauldron...

Although I have read all of the Meg and Mog picture-books written by Helen Nicoll and illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski (I have not read any of the subsequent titles authored by David Walser as yet), I have never watched the animated television show that was made from these books. Meg's Cauldron is the third of four tv tie-in tales taken from that show that I have read from Ladybird Books, and while I do agree with the sentiments I expressed in my reviews of the other two (Mog in Charge and Meg's Fancy Dress), in that I do not think these books are the equal of the originals, I enjoyed this one more than the above two, which I read some years ago. Perhaps I simply have a weakness for humor derived from overly literal obedience or interpretation—think stories like Amelia Bedelia, or Mole and Shrew—but I did find this one amusing, and I did appreciate the ending, in which familiarity outweighs efficiency and convenience. Recommended to those young readers who are fans of the television show, or who have run out of original Meg and Mog stories to read. show less