Millions of Cats

Title: Millions of Cats
Author: Wanda Gag
Major Themes: Cats
Synopsis: When an old man goes looking for one cat and finds millions and billions, what does he do?

An old man and an old woman live in a little house. When they get lonely, the old man goes to find a kitten to keep him company. After walking for a long, long time, he finds hills covered with “Cats here, cats there, cats and kittens everywhere, Hundreds of cats, Thousands of cats, Millions and billions and trillions of cats.” How can he choose the perfect cat to take home?

Millions of Cats is a wonderful old picture book (first published in 1929), illustrated with black-and-white drawings. It is really fun to read, with variations of the refrain I quoted above here and there through the story. The ending is very satisfying, also, when the old man and the old woman end up with just one kitten, the most beautiful in the world, after the other cats eat each other up (the only not-delightful part of the story).

No warnings!