Gag, Wanda. 1928. Millions of Cats. New York, NY: Penguin Group. ISBN 9780399233159
PLOT SUMMARY
This wonderful text and illustrated picture book tells a story of an lonely elderly couple. The wife wants a cat to love and asks her husband to find a cat and bring it home. After finding a hill covered with cats he ends up taking all of them home. At home his wife is stunned to find so many cats and is worried how they will be able to feed them. After the cats get into a fight the elderly couple end up with a small scrawny cat. The setting takes place in a quaint little cottage surrounded by flowers. Cottage is simple and plain. Here the setting appears to take place in a isolated area because couple are lonely yet happy. Elderly woman is dressed in 1920’s dress with a simple bonnet.
Illustrations are simple and yet to the point. Children are used to bright colors and lots of designs. Sometimes too much illustration can lose the meaning of a story because children pay attention to pictures more than the story. However, children look at the pictures and relate to some issues this elderly couple face such as poverty, loneliness, and aging grandparents as well as being a responsible cat owner. The story then becomes meaningful to them.
CRITICAL ANAYLSIS
The couple are depicted as poor and simple people yet rich in love. The representation here is one of challenges(loneliness) that can be overcome with love(kitten). In this story a message is raised about beauty and how as a society we tend to judge people and things based on how beautiful they are. Wanda Gag uses aesthetic issue to make a scrawny little cat “pretty”, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Wanda Gag uses rhyme and rhythm to make the story entertaining for children. “Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, MILLIONS OF CATS!!!The first time I read this book to my students I raise my voice to show expression.The following day I read this book again to my students and omitted the words “Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, MILLIONS OF CATS!!!” and look at my students as a cue for them to say it. They get a laugh out of it as they repeat it. They learn to memorize phrases and at the same time have fun doing it. Reading becomes fun and meaningful.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
1929 Newbery Honor Award
1958 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (posthumous)
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL – “One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century”
THE NEW YORK TIMES – “A perennial favorite.”
CONNECTIONS
*Teach children to be responsible owners
*Memorization skills by reading other books that repeat phrases
*Author study of Wanda Gag
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