Judith Kerr celebrates 95th birthday

HarperCollins marked the 95th birthday of author and illustrator Judith Kerr with a cocktail party at the Savoy Hotel in London.

Kerr attended the party along with HarperCollins c.e.o. Charlie Redmayne and children's executive publisher Ann-Janine Murtagh, along with authors such as David Walliams, Rob Biddulph, Holly Smale and Benji Davies.

Kerr’s next book will be Mummy Time, about the adventures a small child has when his mother is distracted by her phone, and will be published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in the autumn.

Judith Kerr with Ann-Janine Murtagh (left) and blowing out the candles on her cake presented by Charlie Redmayne (right)

In a previous interview with The Bookseller, Kerr said she had no plans to retire, despite being in her 90s. “I usually have to take a gap when I finish something, because I can’t think of what to do," she said. "The feeling of having finished is wonderful but it wears off within a couple of weeks. I hate not working.”

Kerr's last picture book Katinka’s Tail sold 11,131 copies, but in total she has sold 3.8 million books for £19.6m through Nielsen BookScan.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of her most famous title,The Tiger Who Came to Tea, and HarperCollins is marking the occasion with a series of tea parties, as well as new Tiger publishing. The publisher is also working on a TV adaptation of the book with Lupus Films.