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Millions of Cats

By Wanda Gag

One of the reasons I started The Snuggery and the Way Back Wednesday portion of it was the belief that there ARE “essential classics” in the realm of the picture book world that should be part of a canon of literature for kids. And, more than that, these “essentials” had, for a variety of reasons, fallen off the radar for parents, grandparents and anyone interested in introducing great picture books to children.

So, as the year winds down and the weather grows colder and we move many of our activities indoors, it’s a perfect time to highlight the “essentials” with your young readers.

In case you’ve forgotten THIS title, Way Back Wednesday today features the oldest American picture book in print, “Millions of Cats” by Wanda Gag.

One of the very few picture books to win a Newbery Honor book designation, it was given in 1929. Wanda also pioneered the double page spread as Anita Silvey, prominent reviewer points out in her book, “100 Best Books for Children,” “She used both pages to move the story forward, putting them together with art that sweeps the entire page spread…..”

And its popularity stemmed from the hand lettered text that Wanda’s brother contributed to the book, its black and white folk art style, and, of course the repetitive phrase that has stayed alive and been repeated by young readers since its printing:

                                           “ Cats here, cats there,

                                        Cats and kittens everywhere,

                                             Hundreds of cats,

                                             Thousands of cats,

                                   Millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

 

A sweet, but lonely peasant couple living in the country are looking for a cat to keep and love. So, off the husband goes in search of one. But trouble ensues when, after finding a cat, he is tempted by additional ones that make final decision making quite a task. Instead of just one, he opts for a coterie of cats, a cacophony of cats and a conglomeration of cats that drain ponds as they each take one sip, de-blade a hillside of grass as each takes a munch on the trip home and, ultimately get into the biggest “cat fight” in history!!

Prompted by a final cat selection question from the couple somewhat akin to the queen in “Snow White” asking the mirror, “Who’s the fairest of us all?”, a cat calamity begins with a row of epic proportions among all but one of the cats.

Can you guess who is picked as the prettiest?

Read and remember right along with your young reader, this cat tail er tale that is still essential some 85 years after its printing!! It’s a “cat astrophically” essential picture book classic.

Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag is near and dear to my heart because I starred as the old woman in a play my first grade class did about this book in 1978. (Okay, now I know you are all adding up my age!) Anyway, I remember my teacher, Mrs. Burney, reading us this book, choosing the parts, creating the scenery–including the old man and woman’s house, dressing up in costumes, and inviting our parents and other classes to the performance. This memory stands out in my first grade year, and so I thought I had to share this book for a Timeless Thursday post.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the book from Amazon.com Review:
“Millions of Cats is a wonderful tale of vanity versus humility, written and illustrated by the singular Wanda Gag. An old man and his wife decide to get a cat, so the old man goes out in search of the prettiest cat of all. When he is forced to choose from “hundreds, thousands, millions and billions and trillions” of cats, he (naturally) brings them all home. When the wife points out their inability to support the legion of felines, it is left to the cats to decide who among them is the prettiest. Anyone who has ever owned more than a single cat can tell you what happens next.

Gag’s simple, appealing black ink drawings are perfect for the story, somehow capturing at least the idea of millions of cats in a single page. Repeated lines and the sing-song title refrain make this a read-aloud natural.(Ages 4 to 8)”

Millions of Cats won a Newbery Honor award in 1929; and according to Wikipedia (so check your sources), it is the oldest picture book still in print.

This book can really get you and your students (or children) thinking. You can ask several questions such as: “What does it mean to be the prettiest?” “Who should decide who is the prettiest?” “Is being the prettiest most important?” “What can be more important than being pretty?” The end of the book is wonderful when the old man and woman find a skinny cat that survived because it didn’t consider itself pretty. Discuss with children why this cat survives, why the man and woman take it back in, and what happens to the cat with some love.

In a world where children are often exposed to the over-importance of material objects and beauty in the media, Millions of Cats, from 1929, reminds us what is really important. It’s great to read a book that can do that!