Judith Kerr’s resurgence of her beloved Mog the cat is top of the UK the adult and children's book charts.

The new picture book, Mog’s Christmas Calamity, sees the beloved tabby cat - last seen in 2002 - cause chaos in the Thomas household on Christmas morning. It has beaten big name authors including David Walliams, Bill Bryson and Ian Rankin to the No 1 slot, selling 74,453 copies just last week.

The book sees Mog accidentally summon the fire brigade to her smoke-filled home after a catastrophic Christmas Eve and was written and illustrated by Judith Kerr exclusively for Sainsbury's. The store aired a witty short film bringing Mog to life – and featuring a cameo from Judith herself – last Thursday which proved a huge success. Voiced by Emma Thompson, the advert sees ill-fated cat Mog set off a chain of unfortunate events which almost ruin Christmas for the Thomas family.

The success is nothing the chart-topping author isn’t used to, her bestselling title The Tiger Who Came to Tea (above), has sold over five million copies since its publication in 1968.

In 2002, Judith broke hearts by killing off her calamity-prone Cat by publishing Goodbye Mog. Talking to the Guardian at the time she said: “I didn’t think of it so much in terms of “That’s an end to Mog,” though I think it is.

 “I’ve done enough Mog books – you know, drawing all those stripes became very tedious. I wished sometimes I’d made her a plain-coloured cat. But it wasn’t so much that I wanted to kill her off, as that I wanted to say something about dying and being remembered.” 

Figures from Nielsen BookScan reveal that Mog’s latest adventure sold an average of 39 copies per minute between 13 November and 17 November.

Judith, HarperCollins and Sainsbury’s are donating all the profits from the sale of the £3 title, and of a £10 Mog soft toy, to Save the Children’s campaign to improve child literacy in the UK.

So, what are you waiting for? Join the Mog mania gripping the nation, and watch the funny ad here because, take it from us, this just keeps getting better. 

Images copyright Kerr-Kneale Productions Ltd.