Judith Kerr was born in Berlin, the daughter of a distinguished German writer. She left Germany with her family in 1933 to escape from the Nazis and they arrived in England in 1936, having spent the intervening years in Switzerland and France.

She was married to the writer Nigel Kneale. Their daughter Tacy is an artist, and their son Matthew is an acclaimed novelist. In 2012, Judith was awarded an OBE for her services to children's literature and Holocaust education. Judith Kerr passed away in 2019, at the age of 95.