MILLIONS OF CATS by Wanda Gag

MILLIONS OF CATS is a story about a lonely old lady who thinks a cat would brighten her days so her husband goes to fetch her a cat. Her husband however was unable to select just one cat because he liked the uniqueness in each of them so he decided to bring them all home. This was a disaster, as they drank an entire lake and ate an entire field in one feeding. So they asked the cats to select among themselves who was the fairest. In turn they end up eating each other, except one self described "homily" cat stayed above the fray and thusly was the sole survivor. Eventually with the love, food and caring of the old man and woman the cat turned into quite a beautiful cat.

I liked this book because of the morals of staying above the fray, and too much of a good thing is a bad thing. As the 1929 Newberry winner the graphic are not as intense as the graphics of today, but when I read it to my nieces (6 and 3) they didn't complain. They liked the story and looking at the pictures of the cats. (they are true animal lovers!)


This story could be used as a "social story" with a class that has a lot of in-fighting. It could also be used in a Social Studies class to teach the idea of supply and demand.



Other Reviews:

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) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"This Newbery Honor winner is distinguished by innovative design and a strong storyteller's cadence." (School Library Journal's "One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century")

"A perennial favorite." (The New York Times) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.