''The Secret World of Og'' is a children's novel written by

Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also wr ...

and illustrated by his daughter Patsy. It was first published in 1961 by

McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was found ...

. This Canadian classic has sold more than 200,000 copies in four editions. Of his forty-seven books, this was Berton's personal favourite, partly because the characters were inspired by his own children. ''The Secret World of Og'' brought the author more fan mail than anything else he wrote – at least a dozen letters a week from children across Canada.

Plot introduction

In this

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

, four children — Penny, the leader; Pamela, her

common-sense ''Common Sense'' is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arg ...

sister; Peter, whose life's ambition is to become a

garbageman A waste collector, also known as a garbageman, garbage collector, trashman (in the US), binman or (rarely) dustman (in the UK), is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and dispose of municipal solid waste (refuse) and r ...

; and Patsy, who collects

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

s in her pockets — set out in search of their baby brother, Paul, better known as “The Pollywog,” who has vanished mysteriously from their playhouse. Accompanied by their fearless pets, the children descend through a secret trapdoor into a strange underground world of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

s, whose green inhabitants know only one word: “OG!”

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

''The Secret World of Og'' served to inspire an animated action-adventure television series produced in 2006 and airing on CBC Television, Canada's national public broadcaster. The series also airs in the United States on Starz Kids and Family with a TV-PG rating, despite its family-oriented nature. An animated

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

based on the book, also called '' The Secret World of Og'' produced by Hanna-Barbera, was previously broadcast in 1983 in the United States as part of ''

ABC Weekend Special ''ABC Weekend Special'' is a weekly 30-minute American television anthology series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997, which featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated. Similar to b ...

s'' during its sixth season. The TV series extends the storyline of the original book, following the five Berton siblings as they descend through a hole in the floor of their playhouse to explore the underground world of Og. There, amid subterranean rivers, caverns and elaborate villages built of mushrooms, they interact with little green creatures called Ogs, and their myriad neighbours -

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...

ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...

s and fairies, and a mysterious

sea monster Sea monsters are beings from folklore believed to dwell in the sea and often imagined to be of immense size. Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or tentacled beasts. They can be slimy and scaly and are of ...

named

Nessie NESSIE (New European Schemes for Signatures, Integrity and Encryption) was a European research project funded from 2000 to 2003 to identify secure cryptographic primitives. The project was comparable to the NIST AES process and the Japanese Gov ...

. Carousel Theatre produced a stage version of ''The Secret World of Og'' in April 2009 in Vancouver, BC, adapted by

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual List of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. Th ...

winning playwright Kevin Kerr. The Canadian Children's Opera Company (CCOC) produced an operatic version in May 2010 at the Enwave Theatre of the Harbourfront Centre, Toronto. ''The Secret World of Og'', with libretto and music by Dean Burry, is directed by Joel Ivany and conducted by Ann Cooper Gay. The Sarasota Youth Opera of the

Sarasota Opera Sarasota Opera is a professional opera company in Sarasota, Florida, USA, which was founded as the Asolo Opera Guild and, until 1974, presented a visiting company's productions. Between 1974 and 1979, it set about mounting its own productions in t ...

presented the United States premiere
"Sarasota Opera Announces 2016/2017 Season" 1 March 2016 of the operatic version on November 12, 2016 at the historic Sarasota Opera House. The piece was directed by Martha Collins and conducted by Jesse Martins.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret World of Og, The 1961 Canadian novels Books by Pierre Berton Canadian children's novels Canadian fantasy novels Children's books set in subterranea McClelland & Stewart books 1961 children's books