Gág, Wanda. Millions of Cats. New York, NY: Coward-McCann, 1928.
2. Plot Summary
In this classic picture book, an elderly man and woman live in a beautiful yet lonely home. To make their home a little less lonely, the old woman suggests the addition of a cat. Being the doting husband, the old man sets out to search the hills and valleys for just that. He finds “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats”, but the problem is that he thinks they are all beautiful and worth keeping. The old man decides to bring all the cats home only to be told by the old woman that this simply will not do. After all, how can they feed this many cats? What begins as a tale for the search for the prettiest cat, ends with the old couple learning that the prettiest cat is the one that they care for.
3. Critical Analysis
Millions of Cats is classic, simple storytelling at its best. Set in what appears to be a quaint, quiet farm area, the characters are as simple as their little home. Readers will travel with the old man through the quiet, rolling hills and valleys and back as he makes the journey to find a cat for his wife. When they first open the pages of this rectangular book, readers will enjoy the repetitive, mostly predictable story. Although much of this story is predictable, readers will be surprised by the cats’ behavior as they fight over who is the prettiest cat. After all the cannibalistic cats have eaten each other, readers will be satisfied to find out that one “homely” cat has survived. The elderly couple and readers alike can learn in the end that the prettiest cat is not always the best cat, and their cat becomes beautiful after it is loved and cared for.
The understated black and white illustrations spread across almost every double spread page help make the millions of cats come to life. The illustrations complement the story and help provide a visual for the journey from the valley back home to the old couple's house. The humorous images of all the “millions and billions and trillions” of cats that sit under, next to, and above the story’s hand written narration will delight readers. Readers who are used to colorful images may still find themselves enjoying the simple and playful illustrations in Millions of Cats.
4. Awards and Review Excerpt(s)
- 1929 Newbery Medal
- School Library Journal’s Top 100 Picture Books
Gather other books by Wanda Gag such as:
- ABC Bunny. ISBN 0816644160
- Nothing At All. ISBN 9780816644186
- The Funny Thing. ISBN 0816642419
Gather other award winning children’s books featuring cats such as:
- Henkes, Kevin. Kitten’s First Full Moon. ISBN 006241710X
- Wenzel, Brendan. They All Saw A Cat. ISBN 1452150133
Use as a tool for practicing fluency with the repetitive lines.
Use to analyze dialogue punctuation.
Study the author after reading other books by Wanda Gag with Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Loved To Draw.
- Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Loved To Draw. ISBN 0670062928
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