Reviews: (by author)

Ga'g, Wanda. Millions of Cats. New York:Scholastic, 1928. ISBN: 0-590-40612-4. Paperback.

Millions of Cats is a delightful gem that reinforces the American fairytale genre within American children's literature. This cozy tale evokes delicious scents of tea, cookies, and warm scones enjoyed on wintry Sunday mornings. The story recounts the events surrounding an old couple's desire to adopt a little cat to alleviate the great loneliness they feel in their secluded, desolate home.

The old man sets off to obtain one, when, surprisingly enough, he comes upon a hill covered by cats and kittens of various shapes, colors, and sizes. Inundated by the plethora of options available to him and unable to choose the perfect kitten, he finds that he recognizes beauty in every single one. We discover that that he has chosen them all! These "million and billions and trillions of cats" follow their new satisfied owner home.

Upon his arrival, a great dilemma arises when the old man's wife proclaims that they can keep only one of them and decides that the cats themselves must decide which one will be privileged to have that honor. There ensues a great scuffle and tumultuous debate wherein the cats, drowned in their desire to show each other's superiority, devour one another and perish. Forlorn, and disappointed, the couple discovers that one kitten has survived the skirmish. Happily, he is rescued and becomes the couple's lifelong friend.

This piece is simply enchanting. The illustrations are delightful in their black-and-white simplicity and clarity. Traditional and modest in design, the illustrations work thematically in union with the text to both simplify the relatively complex plot sequence and depict the outrageous visual effect of literally "millions of cats" overwhelming our beloved old couple.

The text is fun to read aloud as a result of its simple narrative structure and the use of the recurring chant:

Cats here, cats there,
Cats and kittens everywhere,
Hundreds of cats,
Thousands of cats,
Millions, and billions, and trillions of cats.

Moreover, the text is useful to all parents and teachers looking to teach literary aspects such as dialogue (abundant use of quotation marks within the text), plot, comprehension, and reading skills. Finally, themes such as loneliness, compassion, competition, love, greed, and anger are all explored and discussion of these themes is easily facilitated for the young reader and teacher/parent through the enjoyable text. I highly recommend this book for readers aged seven to nine and encourage its use specifically for out-loud storytelling and discussion.

FP Nov. '02

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