CBC Digital Archives

Pierre Berton's The Secret World of Og, 30 years later

More than any other writer, Pierre Berton brought Canadian history to life. Born in the Yukon in 1920, Berton was a journalist, broadcaster and panellist on the long-running CBC-TV program Front Page Challenge. His books on the remarkable people, places and events of the past helped create a national mythology and earned him a spot on the bookshelves and in the hearts of Canadians.

Beneath a trapdoor in the clubhouse of Penny, Pamela, Peter, Patsy, and the Pollywog (baby Paul) lies Og, a fantastical place of caverns and rivers inhabited by green-skinned Ogs. Written by Pierre Berton in 1961 and illustrated by his daughter Patsy 13 years later, The Secret World of Og has become a beloved classic of Canadian children's literature. Thirty years after Pierre penned those pages, his progeny Patsy appears on CBC-TV's Front Page Challenge to celebrate the book's 30th anniversary reprinting. 
• Pierre Berton always maintained that of all the dozens of his books, The Secret World of Og was his favourite. Many young readers agreed: "I get more mail about this book than any other, most of it from young children," Berton wrote in his autobiography My Times. One such letter, from a seven-year-old boy, read: "Dear Mr. Berton: You are a real good writer. The Secret World of Og is the best book I've ever read in my whole life."
  • When it was first released in 1961, the book had illustrations by William Winter, a regular contributor to Maclean's magazine. In 1974 a new edition of the book was re-released with illustrations by Patsy Berton, who was barely out of her teens at the time.

• As of 2009 the book had been adapted into an animated CBC-TV children's series and a live musical staged by Vancouver's Carousel Theatre.

Medium: Television
Program: Front Page Challenge
Broadcast Date: Nov. 28, 1991
Guest(s): Patsy Berton
Host: Fred Davis
Panellist: Pierre Berton, Allan Fotheringham, Betty Kennedy, Jack Webster
Duration: 6:03
The Secret World of Og. Written by Pierre Berton. Illustrated by Patsy Berton. Doubleday Canada.

Last updated: May 7, 2012

Page consulted on May 17, 2013

All Clips from this Topic

Related Content

2004: Goodbye, Pierre Berton

The journalist, broadcaster and historian passes away in 2004 at age 84.

1970: Pierre Trudeau says 'Just watch me' dur...

Canada looks more like a police state than a democracy eight days after the kidnapping of Brit...

2000: Justin Trudeau delivers eulogy for his ...

Justin Trudeau delivers the eulogy at his father Pierre Trudeau's funeral.

1969: Pierre Trudeau causes a stir in London

Londoners won't leave Pierre Elliott Trudeau alone at a British Commonwealth prime ministers' ...

Trudeau on Trudeaumania

After retiring as prime minister, Trudeau grants very few interviews and leads a reclusive exi...

'Trudeaumaniacs' look back

In 1968, Florene Moskovitz put on her white beret and headed off to Parliament Hill hoping to ...