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Millions of Cats

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 7,960 ratings · 305 reviews

Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman who were very lonely. They decided to get a cat, but when the old man went out searching, he found not one cat, but millions and billions and trillions of cats! Unable to decide which one would be the best pet, he brought them all home. How the old couple came to have just one cat to call their own is a classic tale th...more

Paperback, 32 pages

Published October 5th 2006 by Picture Puffin Books (first published 1928)

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Community Reviews

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May 21, 2012 Gundula rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who likes picture books about animals, especially vintage picture books about animals

Shelves: childrens-literature, picture-books, animals-nature, book-reviews, ecology

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 so...more 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.(less)

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Jun 22, 2010 Ronyell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Ronyell by: The Newbery Book Club

Shelves: summer-100-book-challenge-2010, animal-books, children-books, creepy-ending, fantasy, drama, picture-books, reviewed-books, ronyell-s-epinions-reviews, surreal, wanda-gag, newbery-honor, goodreads-group-reads, 1001-children-s-books-you-must-read, read-in-2010

“Millions of Cats” is a Newberry Honor book by Wanda Gag about how a very old couple wanted to have a cat for companionship, but they end up getting a million cats as pets and they have to decide which cat to keep for themselves. “Millions of Cats” may have a gruesome solution to the couple’s problem with having so many cats, but this book is still a great book for children to read for many years.

Wanda Gag’s story is cute and creative as it details a very old couple’s desire to have a cat to car...more “Millions of Cats” is a Newberry Honor book by Wanda Gag about how a very old couple wanted to have a cat for companionship, but they end up getting a million cats as pets and they have to decide which cat to keep for themselves. “Millions of Cats” may have a gruesome solution to the couple’s problem with having so many cats, but this book is still a great book for children to read for many years.

Wanda Gag’s story is cute and creative as it details a very old couple’s desire to have a cat to care for and put an end to their loneliness. Wanda Gag has done an excellent job at building up excitement in the story as she starts the story off as being tranquil as the old couple just wants a cat for companionship and then becomes a bit frenetic when the very old man takes in all the cats up on the hill. Wanda Gag’s illustrations are cute yet old-fashioned since the scenery and the characters are all in black and white and the characters look extremely simple than what you would find in the present era of children’s books. The images of the very old couple were the true highlights of the book as they look a bit pudgy and yet have cheerful expressions on their faces all throughout the book.

Parents should know that the solution to where the couple tries to have one cat out of all the millions of cats that the very old man brought home is a bit too disturbing for smaller children. I will not reveal the ending, however let’s just say that the way that the cats handle the problem of trying to figure out who is the prettiest is like the predator versus the defenseless animal scenario. Parents might want to reassure their children about the food chain and how there are other solutions in selecting just one pet.

“Millions of Cats” is the perfect book for children who love learning about having a pet and love everything about cats. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children would be scared off by the disturbing solution that the cats figure out to see who is the prettiest among themselves.
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May 08, 2010 Crystal Marcos rated it 4 of 5 stars

I would give it a 3.5 if that were available. I just read the book. I have to say the cover didn't really appeal to me with the orange, yellow, and black. When I started to read the story I have to say that a song popped in my head when the old man set out to get his wife a cat. I will walk 500 miles and I will walk 500 more. What length a person would go through for their loved one. I thought the story was good. But, it did not have that "I have to share this factor." The illustrations were bla...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Lauren Hackbarth rated it 5 of 5 stars

I wish I had a copy of this book because my mother read it to me a lot when I was little and the entire book is kind of an oddly accurate depiction of me and how I view the world and the things in it. The old man goes out to find a cat and finds many because he just can't seem to leave anyone behind. At the end the cats all kill each other, leaving one neglected looking kitten for the couple to take care of. They could have chosen any of those cats beforehand, but they love this little one that...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Laura Ellsworth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: information-sciences-330

An elderly couple decides that they are lonely and could use a cat. So the old man set out across the countryside in search of a pretty little kitten to bring home to his wife. Soon he comes upon a hill full of cats, but quickly realizes he cannot pick just one. And so the old man heads back home will the whole horde of cats. After draining a pond and clearing a hill full of grass, the old man took the cats to his wife. The old woman explained to the old man that they couldn't not take care of t...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Katharine Snyder rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic-picture-book

This book, millions of cats, is about a lonely old couple, who decides to get a cat. The old man ventures out to a hill, filled with cats, and cannot pick just one cat to take home for his wife. So he picks them all. They all follow him home, and then once the old man and woman realize they cannot keep millions of cats, they ask the cats to decide who to keep. They ask, "who is the prettiest?" All of the cats answer that they are the prettiest, and so they all begin to fight to stay at te house...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Erin Mccall added it

The choice of font I found rather interesting because it’s very unlike what we see in most picture books today. The norm for modern picture books, from what I’ve gathered of the titles thus far, is to use bold, straight-letter fonts that tend to encourage the child to follow along with the reader and become more acquainted with the letters and words, whereas Millions of Cats font almost resembles an old script style. The black and white illustrations begin with a rather cartoon feel and the fir...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Wayne S. rated it 5 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...more 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.
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Jul 04, 2012 Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars

I honestly didn't remember what happened in this book. I had totally forgotten all of the details. I'm glad that I read it again. Even though it was in black and white, it was still a great read. I actually liked the text font. It reminded me a lot of the font they used for the writings of There And Back Again by Bilbo Baggins from Lord of the Rings. If I could find this particular font, I would use it all of the time! I also loved the pictures! They were not fancy but even black and white pictu...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: newbery, picture, children-s, 2012

Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats! An old man and woman decide to get a cat. The old man finds a hill covered with cats and wants to choose the prettiest one. Well, cats being cats, he can't choose just one and lets them all follow him home. The drink up a pond, eat up all the grass, and the old woman finally suggests that the cats choose one to stay with the old couple. The cats begin to argue and THEN THEY EAT EACH OTHER ALL UP. (Note: I found thi...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Monica! rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, one-dog-woof, someday-baby-someday, i-find-you-strangely-disturbing, buckets-of-snark, now-youve-read-the-book

Friends, if you're like me and love watching Hoarders, and find yourself thinking, "Gosh, I wish I had a children’s book to read to my impressionable baby boy / girl that in some way would encompass everything I love about reality shows featuring tragic elderly folks with massive hoarding problems, but that also has a happy ending where the characters don’t suffer nervous breakdowns and need to be visited at home by Adult Protective Services," then I have the book for you.

Yes, it’s Millions of C...more

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May 26, 2011 David Gallagher rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011, library

I had a 60 minute break between classes at school, and, to kill time, I decided to go to the library and read a book short and easy enough to be able to finish it fast.

So I picked Millions of Cats. From the Children's section.

I could tell this was a vintage/classic children's book, but I wasn't sure exactly how much vintage/classic it was.

A LOT.

I started reading thinking, "oh, what a cute story! Such cute kittens! I wouldn't be able to pick one either!"

And a few pages later....

"WHAT. THE. FUCK?...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An elderly couple are lonely and decide a cat would be the perfect addition to their family. The old man sets out to find a cat when he comes across a hill covered with "millions" of cats. Unable to choose just one, he brings them all home. When he arrives home, his wife points out that they cannot possibly care for that many cats. They decide that they must choose the prettiest cat. The cats end up fighting each other and eventually cannibalize each other until there is only one scrawny cat lef...more An elderly couple are lonely and decide a cat would be the perfect addition to their family. The old man sets out to find a cat when he comes across a hill covered with "millions" of cats. Unable to choose just one, he brings them all home. When he arrives home, his wife points out that they cannot possibly care for that many cats. They decide that they must choose the prettiest cat. The cats end up fighting each other and eventually cannibalize each other until there is only one scrawny cat left. They end up keeping it and with much love and care it grows to be a beautiful cat.

I chose to read this book as it was recommend in the Children's Literature Briefly textbook as a good example of a participation book. I really wanted to read this book because it is a medal winner and because it was one of the few "classic" children's books that I had never read. When my daughter saw it in my pile of books from the library, she was so excited saying it was one of her favorite books. Apparently she read it at school. She's a huge cat lover, so I was expecting a warm and fuzzy story about some cats. So, I was pretty shocked at the gruesome ending in this book. I gave it three stars because my daughter loved it and she is the target audience, so there must be an appeal about this book that I just don't get. I just don't care for the cats eating each other. The story could have made the same message without the cats actually eating each other. I did really enjoy the pen/ink drawings in the book and I like the ultimate message that the author was trying to make.

Themes: desire for companionship, making judgements based on beauty/appearances
Grades K-2
Awards: Newbery Honor
Publication: 1928

Classroom uses:

The teacher could use this to introduce a lesson place value. After reading the book, the teacher could write the number 1 on the board and then start adding zeros to compare hundreds, millions, billions, etc.

Have children discuss what is special or unique about themselves. Have them draw pictures and write a few sentences about why they are unique and special.

The teacher could also do a lesson about responsibilty. Discuss why they could not keep all of the cats and talk about the care that goes into taking care of a pet.(less)

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Dec 29, 2010 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a classic story to read to all young children. Children will feel very comfortable with this story from the start, as it uses the classic “Once upon a time” approach. There is an old couple who is very lonely and goes in search of a pet cat. The old man found a hill covered with millions of cats, and could not decide on just one cat to take home. He took them all home. Millions of cats were too many for the couple to care for, so the couple asked the cats to decide which cat got to stay...more

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Dec 05, 2009 earthy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile, picture-books

When a very old man promises to find a cat for his wife, he finds so many that trouble ensues.

The text looks handwritten, and the black-and-white drawings are intricately sketched. Thick and thin lines are crosshatched to create everything from meadows to millions and billions of cats’ fur. The book is longer than it is wide, which makes the sweeping landscapes seem wider and more picturesque. The end pages at the front and back of the book include more intricate designs and pictures of cats. Wh...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Vrinda rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-literature

Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag is a Newberry Honor picturebook, intended for young readers, N-P. It is a story of an old man who ventures out, seeking a cat to bring home to his wife to dispel the couple’s loneliness. The old man finds a hill coated with cats. He finds one that suits his fancy, turns to head home, whereupon he sees another cat which catches his eye. Then another, and another, and by the end of it, he’s on the path home with “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billi...more Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag is a Newberry Honor picturebook, intended for young readers, N-P. It is a story of an old man who ventures out, seeking a cat to bring home to his wife to dispel the couple’s loneliness. The old man finds a hill coated with cats. He finds one that suits his fancy, turns to head home, whereupon he sees another cat which catches his eye. Then another, and another, and by the end of it, he’s on the path home with “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

The plot was evident - there were clearly too many cats to choose only one from. And understandably so, the couple was seeking a single companion during their elderly years. Personally, the ending of this book was the spoiler. How could the cats just kill each other? What I believe to be the theme of responsibility of taking care of a pet is overridden by the narcissism of the cats which ultimately result in their deaths. Instead, the theme of the story seems to be survival of the fittest, or in this case, survival of the humblest. Without the humility of one cat, and it not claiming itself prettiest, it too would have been eaten.

I also wasn’t very fond of the illustrations in this book. It took second and third looks to grasp the depictions. For instances, the cats sipping from the pond, and then the illustration of no pond left was confusing. I couldn’t tell that the resultant desolate land was being exposed, or that after eating all the grass, there was no grass left. The streaks of lines were too simple for my taste.

I don’t quite grasp how this book would be appealing to young readers. When I was young I read stories of animals taking care of each, and love and friendship between animals, not carnivorous deaths. Though the couple at the end of the story does get the companion cat they sought, it was at the expense of “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats,” and I do not believe that that is a theme that should be instilled in young children. On a positive note, the illustrations being black and white could make for an interesting art project for the children using only black and white mediums to create their own visualizations.(less)

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Nov 27, 2012 Monique Swafford rated it 4 of 5 stars

Millions of cats is a cute story about a very old, lonely couple who desire a companion, so the old man goes to the country to seek out the “prettiest” cat to bring to his wife. Once the old man starts looking though, he finds “millions and billions” of cats and cannot choice just one, so they all follow him home. His wife is shocked and tells him they can only he one cat. The old man decides to ask them which is the prettiest, but they all think that each one is the prettiest so a huge fight br...more

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May 08, 2010 Chandra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: newbery, picture-books

This little book completely tickles me. I love the look and feel of the book - from the hand written higgledy-piggledy text to the quaint little black and white illustrations. This combined with the familiar folktale set up - lonely old couple in need of something to love and care for - leads you to believe that you're in for a cute, but fairly predictable little story. But it all veers off the tracks as soon as the old man realizes he can't just choose one cat of the hundreds, thousands, millio...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Davis Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Millions of Cats is a story of two old individuals who live a normal life, but want the elderly woman wants a cat to satisfy her loneliness. The husband sets out to satisfy her need for a cat and comes to a hill with thousands, millions, and billions of cats. Which on will he choose? he asks. He found one, white cat who he thought would work, then came across another, white and black cat. After going through many cats, they all started following him home. While they return the wife says, "how wi...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Whitney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: picture-books, classic-picture-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 05, 2010 Lisa Vegan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens, fiction, picture-books, reviewed

I’m shocked. I really liked this book. I read it only because it’s a selection of the Newbery book club for the Children's Books group, and I’m not participating until they get to 1953 or so (mostly because of reading time considerations; I do like the idea of reading every single Newberry and Newberry honor book), but this was an unusual Newbery selection: a short picture book.

I’ve been reading others’ comments and thought that I’d be repulsed by this book; I am not a fan of the macabre.

However...more

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Mar 26, 2010 Nelda rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sometimes when I'm weeding the shelves at work,I really want to get rid of some of the older books that my kids simply never check out, nor seem able to relate to. This is one of those books that I put on the weeded pile, then change my mine...then put it back, and then ultimately leave it on the shelves. Why? Is it that good? Uh....no. But I think some of these older books are good examples of what children's literature used to look like. I sometimes will use these books as examples when workin...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-4050

Summary:
A picture book about an elderly couple who decide to get a cat. The husband goes in search of the prettiest cat to bring home for his wife, and discovers an area filled to the brink with billions of cats. He could not choose just one and ended up taking all of them home. They realize that they cannot feed all of them and decide to let the cats decide which of them is the prettiest. This decision causes a fight between the cats because they all thought they were the prettiest, leaving on...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Yellowpagesgirl rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book out of curiosity because the story lady at the library enacted the story for storytime and said she changed the lead-up to the ending a bit. DO TELL, STORY LADY! The story was kind of torturously long and she had the children do a lot of mewing of kittens and a lot of shaking of castinets as the old man was walking. I couldn't really imagine another ending at all? She also said the pictures were not that entertaining for story time.

WELL! What a surpise grizzly ending! We le...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book when I was a kid. I have recalled it many times over the years as one of the most memorable picture books I have ever read, but I could not remember the name of it! I searched for it a few times without any success. And then one day I walked into a bookstore in Corvallis and there it was sitting on a table. I recognized it immediately and of course bought myself a copy.

There might not be a million cats pictured in this book, but there are at least a thousand. The black and whit...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Meredith Trotter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: participation

Publication: 1928

Grade/Age: PreK-2nd grade

Annotation: This is the story of a very old man who went off in search of one kitten and returned with "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats."

Themes: Cats, understanding large numbers

Ways to use the book:

Language - Play a game with the children by naming an animal and having them provide the name of the young or baby animal (i.e. cat--kitten, dog--puppy).

Math - Develop a math lesson or game to further explain h...more

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Apr 02, 2010 Typhani rated it 4 of 5 stars

Summary: 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...more

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Jun 24, 2009 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-picture-books

Oh, dear... I thought I was going to absolutely adore this story based on the charming illustrations and the idea of a man who sets out to bring home a kitty for his wife, only to find that every cat he sees is just too cute to pass up so he brings home "millions of cats." However...

SPOILER

I thought the end was quite dreadful! Yes, even if this is a tale of the evils of vanity, it was a bit too much for all (but one) of the cats to eat one another up because each wanted to be the most beautiful...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Ginger added it

Shelves: pbs

A very old man and a very old woman lived in a nice house, but they were lonely, so the woman wishes for a cat. The man set out to look for a cat. He came to a hill covered with cats. He chose one, then another and another until they all followed him home. They stopped for a drink and drained a pond. They stopped to nibble grass until there was no grass left. The old woman says that they'll never be able to feed them all. They decide to keep the prettiest and ask the cats which one is prettiest....more

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Apr 01, 2013 Arianna George rated it 2 of 5 stars

The illustrations were in black and white only. The illustrations were detailed, however if color was used when the very old man described the color of cats he found (grey, or brown with yellow stripes, etc.), I believe that would of enhanced the book. The very old man explains picking up cats, one by one until he gets to six, which exhibits a numbering sequence. As I would read this book to a class, I would identify the numbering and see if they could keep count as he picks up more cats. The ho...more

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About Wanda Gág

Wanda Hazel Gág (March 11, 1893–June 27, 1946)[1] was an American author and illustrator. She was born on March 11, 1893, in New Ulm, Minnesota. Her mother (Elisabeth Biebl) and father (Anton) were of Bohemian descent. Both parents were artists who had met in Germany. They had seven children, who all acquired some level of artistic talent. Wanda grew up the eldest of these, and despite their econo...more Wanda Hazel Gág (March 11, 1893–June 27, 1946)[1] was an American author and illustrator. She was born on March 11, 1893, in New Ulm, Minnesota. Her mother (Elisabeth Biebl) and father (Anton) were of Bohemian descent. Both parents were artists who had met in Germany. They had seven children, who all acquired some level of artistic talent. Wanda grew up the eldest of these, and despite their economic hardships the family was surrounded by music, art, light, and love, making it for the most part a joyous existence.[citation needed]

When Gág was fifteen her father died of tuberculosis. She did not fall to depression, but became more determined than ever to make a good living from being an artist. Surely this is at least partially due to her father's final words to her: "Was der Papa nicht thun kont, muss die Wanda halt fertig machen," meaning, "What papa has left undone, Wanda must complete."[citation needed] Following her father's death, the Gág family was on welfare, and many people suggested that Wanda get a steady job. However, she remained in school and practiced her artistry while caring for her six younger siblings. She remained in the house until age twenty, wanting to be certain that the family could carry on on its own.

In 1917 she illustrated A Child’s Book of Folk-Lore, following which she worked on many different projects, and became a well-known artist/author. Her art exhibition in the New York Public Library in 1923 was the true beginning of her fame. She gained a reputation as an illustrator for socialist publications such as The New Masses, and she considered hersef a feminist and advocate of free love in the 1920s; she did not marry her lover until later in life, for instance, although she lived with him before they were wed. She was especially esteemed for her lithographs, though today if her name is known at all it is usually from her children's books, specifically the classic Millions of Cats, which won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958. Gág also received the Newbery Honor Award for this book, and the combined effects of it and her exhibition had given her the funds she needed to carry on her work without stress.

She died in New York City on June 27, 1946.(less)

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