Millions of Cats

Written by Wanga Gag

Narrated by Bruce Bayley Johnson

This is a classic story about a gentle old man who looks for one cat for his lonely wife, and returns with "millions and billions and trillions of cats."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Weston Woods
• Release date: Jan 1, 2004
• ISBN: 9780545794039

Reviews for Millions of Cats

[zoes_human · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

OMG SOMEONE WROTE A STORY BOOK ABOUT MY DADCharming art despite having no color (due to the time in which it was originally published, I'm sure). An amusing tale as well. I personally can't help but love it because this is so much my dad and cats. Suitable for ages 2 to 5.

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An old woman wishes for a pet cat, so her husband goes looking for one for her. However, he comes across an area that has "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats" and he can't choose just one.This is a classic of children's literature that for some reason I had never before read. (This is an especially odd fact given my life-long love of cats.) It's a little bit on the longer side, but it does have a nice rhythm for reading aloud; it would probably do nicely for elementary school-age children rather than toddlers and preschoolers.It's surprising to me that the book is titled Millions of Cats when it is in fact trillions of cats that the old man comes across in his search. The illustrations are fairly basic black-and-white drawings, but they fit the text just fine.

[emma_manolis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The illustrations are a tad dull, but the story is one you'll refer to time and time again. It's a classic!

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A plain but fun tale of a lonely couple who want a cat for company. The illustrations are in black and white, but charming, and the prose just rolls off the tongue: "Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats"!

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved this as a child and as a parent. Thank you listopia for reminding me of it now that my little ones are big!

[emilydrennan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Millions of Cats is a story about a very old woman and a very old man. They are lonely, and the very old woman wants a cat to keep them company. The very old man goes on a journey to find his wife the prettiest cat. He climbed over hills and through valleys and at at last he came upon a hill covered with cats and kittens everywhere, hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats. He can't decide which cat to take home so he decides to take all of them. The very old woman tells her husband they can't keep all of these cats and the try and find the prettiest. The cats begin to fight and leave and only one scraggly kitten is left. The very old woman and very old man keep the kitten and help it grow big and strong and beautiful. This story shows that sometimes what you want isn't what you need. The man and woman thought that they wanted the prettiest cat, but what they really needed was a cat to take care of and nurture. After reading this story, the teacher could have the student's draw out the different numbers for one hundred, one thousand, one million, one billion, and one trillion, so they can see how many cats were in the story.

[athena.j · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a book about a man who takes on the task of picking one cat for his wife among millions. When the crowd of cats begin to quarrel, only one is left. He is the smallest and weakest of all, and he didn't quarrel with the others. This would be a good lesson on not to fight, and remain humble.

[mheitz-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Millions of Cats" starts out with a very old woman asking her husband to find her a cat. Instead, he comes home with millions of cats! They come to the conclusion to allow the cats to decide among themselves who is the prettiest. All the cats feel that they are the prettiest and fight until there is only one cat. When asked how this cat survives, he replies that he is a homely cat and therefore no cat wanted to fight him. In the end, it was that cat that becomes the pet of the old couple and grows to be plump and handsome. I love the illustrations in the bookThis story would be great in the classroom to address the standards for "Describing how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges." It may also be used to teach about cause and effect.

[ekettner-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A charming book about an elderly man seeking a pet for his beloved wife. The illustrations are very simple, yet detailed, and done in black and white.

[brettch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love this book. The illustrations look to me like it was made decades ago for some reason, just very old fashion. But I love cats and I love how this old man collects cats over his journey. This is a very fun book for me to read and I enjoy reading it to kids.

[missjessicagaines · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

summary:The Newberry Award winning book is a classic. The plot is about a elderly couple that wants a cat to keep them company. The husband goes searching for a cat and brings home millions of cats. The decide to have the cats help them choose the most beautiful and the cats begin to fight. The couple finally chooses the quietest cat.Personal reaction.This story makes me think of remaining humble. I also enjoyed the numerical aspect of the book for younger children.Extension Ideas:I. Artdraw the most beautiful cat.II. class venn diagramwhen you grow old what would yu like to keep you company?what keeps you company now?comapare and contrast the two objects

[carolinebraden · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this Newberry Honor book, a very old woman decides that she would like a cat to keep her and her husband company. When her husband goes off to find the most beautiful cat there is, he finds trillions of cats and brings them all home because he cannot decide which one is the most beautiful. Asking the cats to decide amongst themselves who is the most beautiful leads to arguments and fighting and only one cat remains – a self-proclaimed “homely” cat who does not think he is prettiest, but whom the couple sees as beautiful. This is a very old (first published in 1928) book, but also one with important lessons about being humble and recognizing that beauty comes in many shapes and sizes. The text is handwritten and the illustrations are black and white drawings with very detailed images of the “trillions” of cats. The illustrations complement the text and contribute to making this book a timeless classic. In addition to teaching lessons about humility and beauty, this book can also be used to teach children facts about numbers and counting, particularly about the size of something in trillions.

[jthuro1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An exceptional book. Unique illustrations and a simple yet deep message make reading this book a very enjoyable experience. This book teaches the virtues of being humble and makes the reader question the true definition of beauty.

[matthewbloome · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A bit odd and more than a little gruesome with its strange twist, but there it is, a Caldecott Award winner when the competition mustn't have been terribly steep.

[yona-414000 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can rate middle grade boooks based on how I like them and what I think of them with an eye toward the age group that the author seems to primarily have had in mind. I basically do the same with books for younger children but it's considerably harder to do. Having said that, I think this was very good and I liked it. I smiled at the seed the ending plants without seeming to come right out and state a lesson. I plan on sharing this with someone whose mama will have to read it to her - unless I get the opportunity, which would probably be fun. I hope to come back and add her reaction to this blurb.

[rosiebillings · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Summary: An old man and old woman decide they want a cat for company. The old woman, however, doesn’t want just any old cat, she wants the most beautiful cat there is. So, her husband set out to look for the most beautiful cat. He comes across a hill and finds about a trillion cats that are each beautiful and has a difficult time figuring out which one to bring home. He decides the best option would be to bring all of them home. Every. Single. Cat. When he gets home his wife tells him that is too many cats he needs to make a choice, since he can’t the cats decide to make the decision themselves. They begin to fight and in turn destroy each other, except for one. He did not think he was beautiful because he was so small and did not get destroyed by the other cats because he was so quiet. The old man and woman take him in and discover that he is so soft and beautiful. Personal Reaction: The hand written text and drawings were nice, but not my favorite. However, it seems that the moral of the story is quite clear and that is vanity and that beauty isn’t everything. The beautiful cats basically destroy each other and the one that remains and gets adopted is the little homely kitten. This story can also be used as a way to explain the over population of cats and how to control it. Classroom Extension1) Create a science lesson regarding over population of domestic cats.2) Have the children create their own story ending if the old man had chosen one cat as opposed to him bring home the trillians of cats.

[beckytillett · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is about a little old woman who wants a cat, so her husband sets out to find her one. He ends up bringing home millions, but they eat each other and only one scraggly cat is left. They keep him and care for him. The author uses repetition as she describes the number of cats. One might discuss with students how the use of repetition can be found in writing, what repetition means, and how it might enhance a story.

[kellylpickett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Millions of Cats is a very old book about a very old man and very old woman who decide to get a cat for company. The woman wants the most beautiful cat they can fine, so the old man sets out to find one. When he comes upon a hill and finds "millions and billions, and trillions" of cats that are all so different and each one beautiful, he can’t decide which one to choose. So instead of bringing home just one, he brings them all. The very old woman is shocked when he returns with the millions of cats and tells him he must choose just one that it the most beautiful. But since he cannot, he asks the cats to decide. This turns into a huge fight because each one thing it is more beautiful than the others and they end up destroying each other. All except for one little kitten who did not think he was beautiful because he was small and remained quiet so the others didn’t realize he was there. The old man and old woman took him in, fed and bather him, and found him very soft and beautiful.This book touches on the lessons of greed and vanity as well as the fact that size and appearance don’t matter.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of only a few picture-books to have been chosen as a Newbery Honor title - Wanda Gág's own The ABC Bunny was another, in 1934 - Millions of Cats is the charming tale of a very old man and a very old woman who, lonely and childless, decide to get a cat. But when the very old man finds himself before a hill covered in cats - "Cats here, cats there, / Cats and kittens everywhere, / Hundreds of cats, / Thousands of cats, / Millions and billions and trillions of cats," he cannot decide which one to take home. Returning with a horde of felines in tow, the very old man is greeted with consternation by the very old woman, and a decision is reached: they will keep the prettiest. But which is the prettiest...?This book seems to have evoked a strong negative reaction in a number of readers, who have decried the violent and disturbing nature of Gág's solution, but I confess that I saw little cause for concern here. Millions of Cats is so clearly written in a fairy-tale style - the nameless little old couple who long for a child (or child-substitute), the quest to find the child, the convenient disappearance of the rivals, as a result of their own flaws - that I think young readers will take it in stride, treating it as the fantasy it is so clearly meant to be. I myself was reminded, especially at the beginning, of one of my own childhood favorites, Gladys L. Adshead's What Miranda Knew, which also featured a lonely older couple living in a quaint little home. Of course, that story involved a group of angels descending with two little babies for the old couple to care for, rather than a winsome kitten, but the sense of surreal whimsy is very similar.The narrative itself, with its sing-song refrain about the millions of cats, reads very well, and would make an excellent story-hour selection. The type, which looks hand-written, is charming, and the illustrations are simply adorable, with a folk motif style that really appealed to me. In short: I'm going to have to disagree with some of my friends, much though I respect their views. I think Millions of Cats is a picture-book winner - one that definitely deserves a place on the young reader's fairy-tale shelf!

[gundulabaehre · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've just finished reading the book, and while I enjoyed the story itself, I did not find the illustrations all that appealing. I have never really liked black and white illustrations, and the many, many cats together kind of reminded me of masses of lemmings, rodents or locusts, faceless swarms of animals with no personalities or individual features (the only personable cat, in my opinion, is the little kitten left at the end, all the others are just a big mass of "catdom").

After having read some of the reviews from GR friends regarding this story, I was actually at first reluctant to read it, as I assumed that it would describe in detail the cats eating each other and fighting amongst themselves. However, as others have stated, the violence (or rather, the supposed violence, as we only have the assumption of the old couple that the cats might have eaten each other) happens off-screen and thus is not visible or even described. I think that there is also an element of disbelief present; the old man brings home not only too many cats, but millions of them. This element of disbelief renders the story less problematic for children, who often seem able to accept violence in fairy and folk tales, simply because it is often quite unbelievable, or just too outrageous and exaggerated.

For me, this was not only an entertaining and intriguing story (albeit with illustrations that I personally did not find all that appealing), but also a cautionary tale about human responsibility, or more to the point, the lack of human responsibility. It was the old man's responsibility to find one cat to bring home, but he brought home millions. And later, when it becomes obvious that there are simply too many cats, the old couple again does not face their responsibility or accountability; they simply force the cats to fight it out amongst themselves. Furthermore, the fact that the original hill the old man sees is literally covered with domestic feral cats might also be seen as a lack of pan-human responsibility to both our domesticated animals (including pets) and the environment in general (humans abandoning domestic cats in the wild and not realising or caring that there are likely not enough natural spaces available for all of them, that the feral cats will also need to eat and drink, and that the cats' presence will obviously also affect the environment, their surroundings). I know that many people regard this picture book as an allegory against vanity, but I think that it should also be seen as an allegory against irresponsibility. You might even say that it is one of the first picture books to somewhat promote environmental responsibility, by showing that we cannot simply allow our domestic animals to overrun nature.

[palaverofbirds · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite books as a kid. It's pretty much got all the elements that I think make for a good children's book: simple story, an absurd twist, a little bit of horror, and memorable pictures.

[lcornet_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

After reading this book, I questioned why it earned a Newberry Honor Award. I just didn't love the story. I did like the illustrations that were all in black and white.

[j.bryan-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book so much as a child, I wish I had a copy of it now. I took it out repeatedly from Purley Library. I don't recall the cover but I do remember millions of cats swarming over a hillside, and I loved them all.

[homeschoolbookreview · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Once upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman who were unhappy because they were very lonely. The old woman decided that they needed a cat, so the old man set out to find one. Finally, he came to a hill which was covered with “Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere, hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.” He never could decide which one to choose, so he brought them all home. However, the old woman knew that they could never feed them all, so they determine to keep only the prettiest one. But how will they decide which one is prettiest? And what will happen to all the others? This enchanting tale was a recipient of the 1929 Newbery Honor Book Award. It has been said that it is a wonderful story of vanity versus humility. Gag's simple yet appealing black ink drawings are perfect illustrations of the plot and are able to capture the idea of millions of cats on a single page. We are a cat-loving family, and our experience confirms the nature of cats as described by Gag. By modern standards, it is basically a picture book. In fact, many children's literature historians consider Millions of Cats to be the origin of the modern picture book. The Caldecott Medal was created in the late 1930's, in part to recognize books such as this. A couple of reviewers did not like it because the million cats eat each other in a battle over who is the prettiest and because it raised too many questions about why all the cats were fighting and what happened to the other cats. Actually, the old man and woman just assumed that the cats must have eaten each other. They could have fought and then just run away. On the other hand, most people who have reviewed the book said that they enjoyed it. Other books by Gag include The ABC Bunny, also a Newbery Honor winner (1934); The Funny Thing; Gone Is Gone: or the Story of a Man Who Wanted to Do Housework; and Snippy And Snappy. For those who are interested in further information, there is also a biography, Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw, by Deborah Kogan Ray.

[justiceevans · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very old man sets of to find a cat for a pet for the very old woman. He comes to a land of millions of cats. Unable to choose, he returns with all of them. The couple decide to allow the cats to choose who will stay. A huge quarrel erupts. Eventually, only one cat remains; it becomes the beloved pet of the very old couple.An old book, from 1928, this makes for a great read aloud. It is a wonderful way to demonstrate what picture books of old looked like and what their stories were like. The language dates the story, which is a great experience for modern children.

[jeneennammar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4 years old to 7. Winner of a Newbery Honor and distinguished as the first modern American picture book, Wanda Gag's Millions of Cats from 1928 still delights today. In it a peasant man sets off to find a cat for his wife, but when he cannot decide which cat is the prettiest, he brings back millions instead. The old man asks the cats which one of them is the prettiest, but this produces a quarrel and the cats eat each other up until there is only one scraggly cat left. Then the old couple gives it so much care that it becomes beautiful. So Gag provides a moral that children can understand, that there doesn't need to be a competition because love and care will make one beautiful. She pairs this with black and white illustrations that cleverly use perspective to show movement and travel. In 1928, Gag had only had two colors available for the cover illustration, black and red, and only black for the inside illustrations. But by spreading her illustrations over two pages and using scale to make hills and clouds closer or farther away, the reader really gets a sense of movement through the story and is brought more deeply in. This book is still highly recommended for public library collections. Pivotal and influential in its time, Millions of Cats feels like a modern tale.

[fonsecaelib530a · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gág, W. (1956). Millions of cats. New York: G. P. Putman’s Sons. (Original work published 1928).Age: 3 to 6 years oldA very old couple lives in a nice clean house surrounded by flowers, but they cannot be happy because they feel very lonely. The old woman decides that a cat is the solution to their loneliness. The old man then leaves home in search of one cat but ends up finding a million. Unable to choose, he brings all cats home. His wife realizes they cannot feed all of them and asks the cats to select the prettiest of them all. The cats, prompted by vanity, cannot decide, and a big fight ensues. The couple hides in the house until all the noise stops. When they come out, all the cats have disappeared—they ate each other—with the exception of one, the only cat that did not think itself too pretty to get in the fight. The couple adopts the cat, cares for it, until it becomes the prettiest of all cats. The hand-lettered text and the illustrations work in perfect harmony, with the pictures adding vivid details to the simplicity of the text. The setting presented in the illustrations spills from one page to the next, giving the story continuity. The characters, even though not thoroughly developed, ring true to the reader, and their loneliness makes them more human. The gruesome end of the cats teaches the reader to avoid vanity. There is no happy ending for those who think too much of themselves; the homely kitty’s humble opinion of itself saves its life and brings rewards. Children delight in the rhyming patterns, the beautiful illustrations, and the happy ending. Teachers read the book aloud as they share Gás’ beautiful art with the students. Millions of Cats is a 1929 Newbury Honor book and the oldest American picture book in print.Milne, A. A., & Shepard, E. H. (1992). Winnie the Pooh. New York, NY: Puffin Books. (Original work published 1926).

[alebarbu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gág, W. (1928). Millions of cats. New York: Coward-McCann. An old couple finds itself lonely. The wife asks her husband for a cat to be company. He sets out on a long journey to find the “prettiest” cat, but when he comes across “millions of cats”, he finds himself unable to choose one, and brings them all back home. When asked to choose among themselves for the prettiest cat, the cats fight themselves to death over it (they eat each other). Only one little cat was spared because he did not think himself pretty. He is taken in by the couple, and ends up “the most beautiful cat in the whole world”.What makes this book special is that all the inside illustrations are in black and white, which serves the story well because the lack of colors actually helps focusing one’s attention on the illustrations. I find them very neatly drawn, and I think they portray the story in very cute and lively ways. The style of these illustrations reminds me of some traditional illustrations from Russia. The rhythmic cadence of the text adds to the appeal of this book. The repetition of “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats” would delight an audience of children. On a personal level, I also liked this book because I am a cat lover who recently took in a lost little kitten who has also become to me “the most beautiful cat in the whole world”. Ages 3 to 10. Would work very well as a read-aloud for younger ages because of the rhythmic quality of the text. Another book written in the same decade: Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne (1926). Illus. by Ernest H. Shepard.

[erineell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Millions of Cats is a delightful story of a very old man and woman who are in search of a “sweet little fluffy cat” and find themselves in a furry predicament when they have to chose which feline to keep. Not knowing how to decide, the couple leaves the decision up to the cats. The outcome is a quarrel and a homely kitten that makes for their perfect pet. Gág writes in such a way, that the story flows with rhythm and rhyme, by using repeated lines, such as “Hundreds of cats, Thousands of cats, Million and billions and trillions of cats.” The black and white illustrations capture the key events of the story, making them able to stand-alone. The universal theme of companionship is appealing to most readers. This book is perfect for a child’s bedtime story or a whole group read aloud. It’s no wonder that Wanda Gág is considered to be an inspiration for many children authors. Her story Millions of Cats, stirred all the warm fuzzes inside the animal lover in me, reminding me of all the ways that I have wound up bringing home more than one animal.Age Appropriate: 3 to 8 years oldGág, W. (1928). Millions of cats. New York: Coward-McCann. Another book from this decade is listed below: Milne, A. A. (1926). Winnie-the-Pooh. New York: Dutton Children’s Books.

[cassinolan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A lonely elderly couple who decide to get a cat and get more than they bargained for. Very stimulating illustration.