A picture book for young children. Mog the cat was tired and one day she didn't wake up. Everyone was sad but a little bit of her stayed and watched over her family. When Mog and her family were ready she flew into the sun.

Love the ghost cat! ( )

Love the ghost cat! ( )

Mog, that sometimes befuddled (but always loving) feline whose adventures began in Mog the Forgetful Cat, and then continued in many other picture-books, dies peacefully in her sleep in this final story, although "a little bit of her stayed awake to see what would happen next." As the Thomas family mourn her loss, Mog hovers - as a ghost? an angel? it isn't clear - in the background, observing them. When they eventually bring a frightened new kitten home, one who doesn't seem to want to play, and who hides from everything and everyone, she concludes that it is the "wrong kind of kitten." But is he? Or does he just need some help from a hovering cat spirit...?

Having adored the sweetly plump Mog in her other adventures, I expected to find Goodbye Mog simply heartbreaking - other stories of cat death, from The Tenth Good Thing About Barney to The Day Tiger Rose Said Goodbye, have left me in tears - but although there is a distinctly melancholy feel to some of the book, overall it had a more hopeful sensibility. No doubt this is owing to the matter-of-fact description of Mog's death, which occurs at the very beginning of the book, and to the fact that her spirit lingers, and the narrative attention turns to the issue of the new kitten. I liked Judith Kerr's approach to this sensitive issue, and think this story will be helpful for young children who have experienced an animal friend's death, or who are perhaps feeling uneasy about getting a new pet. There is something so reassuring about this story, as Mog lovingly helps the new kitten to adjust to life with the Thomases. ( )

Die geliebte Katze stirbt - und wie geht die Familie damit um? Eine liebevolle Geschichte aus Sicht der verstorbenen Katze, nur ob alle Familien die Lösung, eine neue Katze in die Familie aufzunehmen, geplant haben? ( )