Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág

Bibliography:
Gág, Wanda. 1952. Millions of Cats. by Wanda Gag. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 9780399233159

Plot Summary:
Wanda Gág brings us an interesting story about an old couple that decides one day they would like to have a cat. The old man tells his wife he would go out and get the prettiest cat he can find for her and bring the cat back to their house. During his cat locating journey, the old man comes across millions of different cats and begins to select the cats which are the most beautiful. Regrettably, he ends up convincing himself that all of the cats are beautiful and brings all of the kitties back home to his wife. After reaching his home, his wife is shocked to see millions of cats have followed the old man home and explains they are unable to care for so many cats at once. The old woman decides she will pick the prettiest cat and keep only that cat. Unfortunately, even after of all of those cats they still cannot decide which cat is the prettiest so the old women suggests that the cats should decide who the prettiest cat is; once the cats decide that is the cat the old couple will keep. Unfortunately, all of the cats and kittens thought they were the prettiest and begin fighting one another until none of the cats were left. Shocked, the old couple ran outside to see what if any cats were left and all they found was a small, terrified kitten hiding in the bushes. This little kitten was never attacked by the mob of cats because the kitten never argued over its beauty. The little cat was taken in by the old couple, fattened up and loved dearly.

Critical Analysis:
Wanda Gág’s (‘Gág’ rhymes with ‘blog’) family is of Bohemian descent and this fact becomes obvious in her folk-art like illustrations. Millions of Cats is a black and white illustration picture book that offers quite a wide range of detail, but somehow remains simple enough for a small child to enjoy. While the couple is to be portrayed as elderly, nothing about their movements in the book hints at their apparent senior age group, despite the old man having a rather long beard. Both the old man and woman appear to move with ease, especially the old man on his lengthy journey. Additionally, both the old man and the old woman have kind, gentle faces which are not gnarled in any way. The setting of this story seems to take place in the country with no neighbors around for miles.

Gág uses repetition in her text which will help early readers grasp on to the bigger words they will see in this book. We can see evidence of such repetition in the constant use of “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats” all throughout the book.

Does this book have a hidden meaning? As I have learned from my professor’s textbook (Children's Literature in Action), it is common for adults to want to find a strong message in the text they are reading to their children, but this is not always the case; sometimes a picture book is just a picture book. With this said, if I had to choose a meaning for this story it would probably have to be: beauty is in the eye of the beholder – or at least an old couple in this case.

This book is idea for children ages 3 and up.

Reading Excerpt(s):

• Newbery Medal (1929)
• One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century (2000) in School Library Journal "this Newbery Honor winner is characterized by innovative design and a strong storyteller's cadence"
• Number 21 on School Library Journal's "Top 100 Picture Books" list

Connections:

• Pair this title with other great favorites such as:
            Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
            The Three Little Kittens by Lorinda Bryan Cauley
            The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen    
• Allow the child(ren) to make their own beautiful cat using brown paper lunch bags and different colored construction paper.
• Blank color sheets of kittens and cats can be printed to allow the child(ren) to decorate the prettiest cat.