Millions of Cats by: Wanda Gag

Genre: Picture Book

Publisher: Puffin

Copyright Date: 1928

Page Numbers: 32

Reading Level: 4-8

Summary:

This book is about a very old couple who is very lonely. The very old woman wanted a cat and so the very old man set out to get her one. He walked over hills and through valleys. He walked a long long way to find his woman a cat. Then, he came to a hill that was covered in cats. Millions and Billions and Trillions of cats. He tried to pickt he cutest one, but once he decided on one, he saw another one that he wanted... and then another one.... so he decided to take them all back to his wife. They came to a pond and they cats said that they were thirsty and so he let them drink out of the pond... But they drank the WHOLE pond. They told him they were hungry so he let them eat grass off a hill, but when they were done, there was no grass left... Finally he got home to his wife. She was flustered! She said she only wanted one cat. So, the very old man asked the cats to choose amongst themselves which one was the prettiest. They all started fighting because they each thought that they were the prettiest. A brawl broke out and all the cats started fighting. They very old couple went inside their house to hide. When they went back out, all the cats were gone. They had eaten each other. There was just one cat left who said he didn't get touched because he thought he was homely so the other cats left him alone. They were so happy that they took him in and cleaned him up, and he became a very pretty cat. The old couple wasn't lonely anymore.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ Who would I recommend this book to?

People who like cats would like this book. It also has a phrase that repeats throughout the whole book, so parents would do well in readnig it to their young beginning readers.

What conflicts/problems could this book potentially cause?

The cats eat each other. It's not gorey or anything but it still is kind of strange. I don't actually know what to make of that part. I would hope that that part wouldn't teach children that they have to be the prettiest to be liked the best. I also hope that it wouldn't teach children to look down on themselves in order to be loved either.

My Reaction:

I thought it was weird. It definitley wasn't one of my favorites. I am not a huge cat person, so a book about millions of cats was a little too far for me. I'm not sure what kids could learn from this book.