Millions of Cats

Millions of Cats
By: Wanda Gag





BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Gag, Wanda. 1928. Millions of Cats. New York, NY: Coward-McCann, Inc. ISBN 0698200918

PLOT SUMMARY

A kind old man and woman, living alone, realize they are lonely. The wife decides a cat will solve their loneliness. The husband, being a good and loving husband, sets off to find a cat for them. After much travel he discovers a hill that is covered in cats. He cannot decide on just one, so he brings them all home with him. The wife points out the simple fact that they cannot care for all of these many cats, so they ask the cats to choose amongst themselves the prettiest one. This leads to a giant catfight. When the husband and wife re-emerge from the house, they find just one homely cat that escaped the notice of the others. They bring the kitten into their home and, with some TLC, they have found their very pretty kitten.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Wanda Gag masterfully conveys multiple themes and style devices in this expertly crafted cautionary tale. Her black and white illustrations are traditional in style and simple, yet detailed, in perspective. Integrating the illustrations among the hand-lettered text allows the reader to seamlessly take in the importance of the illustrations as they are reading. Her illustrations, on some pages self-contained and on others covering the expanse of two pages, convey the great distance the man travels to find the cats and then, his inability to choose just one. She expertly illustrates the passage of time on the final page, with the husband and wife sitting with their kitten while their wedding photos hang in the background.

Her use of imagery, hyperbole, and onomatopoeia are visible on every page. The rhythmic repetition of the phrase "Cats here, cats there, Cats and kittens everywhere, Hundreds of cats, Thousands of cats, Millions and billions and trillions of cats"(Millions of Cats, 1928) is present on numerous occasions throughout and paints the visual of just how many cats the couple is faced with. Gag employs vivid imagery as the man is returning home with all of the cats, for when each cat stops to take a sip from a very large pond, the pond is emptied. Similarly, when each cat takes one mouthful of grass from the large hill "...not a blade was left!"

The thematic elements are numerous. First, we see how difficult it is for the old man to choose just one cat for his wife. In an effort to have the perfect something, many times people end up with a lot of a lesser thing. The cats fighting amongst themselves because they each consider themselves the prettiest is a perfect allegory for those with too much pride. It was the humble and homely cat, after all, who survived the catfitght and won a place in the hearts of the old man and woman.

Wanda Gag has combined rich, emotive illustrations with her unique style of writing to put forth a book that is pertinent to and enjoyed by children and adults alike.

REVIEW EXCERPTS/AWARDS

Newbery Honor Book 1929 (for Millions of Cats)
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award 1958 (for Millions of Cats)
Kerlan Award 1977 (for Wanda Gag's body of work)

CONNECTIONS

*Have the students volunteer a time when they've had difficult time making an important decision like the old man. What did they do?

*Discuss other options for how the old man and woman could have chosen their cat from all the "millions and billions and trillions of cats" without allowing them to fight. What could they have done with the rest of the cats?

*Gather and read other books by Wanda Gag, such as Nothing At All (ISBN 0816644187) and The Funny Thing (ISBN 0816642419). Talk about how she illustrates creativity, imagination, and perseverance in her characters.

*Have students write a story in the same framework as Millions of Cats, but have their story be about Millions of ________.