Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág

Millions of Cats  by Wanda Gág

1.      BIBLIOGRAPHY

G‎ág, Wanda. 1928. Millons of Cats. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN 0399233156

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

An old man and woman are lonely so the old man sets off across the countryside to find a cat.  He found a hill full of “millions and billions and trillions of cats.”  He chose one cat after another cat until he chose all the cats.  Since there were so many, the cats drank up a pond and ate all the grass on the way back to the house.    The couple decided that they could not keep all the cats but just the prettiest one.  The cats fought about who was the prettiest until there were no more cats except a “homely” cat.  They took the cat, fed it, and it became the “most beautiful cat in the whole world.” 

3.      CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Millions of Cats is a heart-warming story that begins with the traditional fairy tale beginning of “once upon a time” and ends with a happy ending.  The idyllic house in the countryside of rolling hills adds to the fairytale effect.  Most notable about the book is the plot.  The idea of a man choosing a million cats and taking them home is slightly whimsical but believable enough to draw the reader into the story.  The author did a commendable job making the book not too predictable and keeping the reader wondering what is going to happen next.   Not much time is spent developing the characters in the story.  While the book is not stilted, it does show that too much of a good thing can be bad.  Cats can be good pets but too many destroy things like the pond and grass in the story.    

Part of the charm of the book is that the words look beautifully handwritten.   The illustrations look like they are drawn in black ink. The pictures of the cats almost piled up on each other really compliment the sensation of just too many cats!   The old man and woman look good-natured in all the illustrations and mirror the good-hearted nature of the couple in the story.    

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Newberry Honor Medal, 1929

5. CONNECTIONS

*Connect the book to the study of place value.   Have students write a hundred, million, billion and trillion in standard form or numerical form.   

 *Other books for children about cats:

Henkes, Kevin. 2004. Kitten’s First Full Moon. ISBN 0060588284

Mora, Pat.  Here, Kitty, Kitty! Ven, Gatita, Ven!. ISBN 0060850442

O'Hair, Margaret.  My Kitten.  ISBN 0761458115
0761458115