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The Funny Thing
The Funny Thing is Gág’s follow-up to her well-loved classic, Millions of Cats. It tells the story of a curious “aminal” that eats children’s dolls. A kindly man named Bobo cannot stand by and allow this to happen. He entices it to eat the concoction “jum-jills.” A happy ending is assured when the Funny Thing discovers he loves them and never eats another doll.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1929
About the author
Wanda Gág
110 books84 followersWanda Hazel Gág (pronounced GOG) 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. Gág 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.
When Gág was 15, her father died of tuberculosis; his final words to her were: "Was der Papa nicht thun konnt', muss die Wanda halt fertig machen." ("What Papa couldn't do, Wanda will have to finish.") Following Anton's death the family was on welfare, and some townspeople thought that Gág should quit high school and get a steady job to help support her family. Despite this pressure, Gág continued her studies. After graduating in 1912, she taught country school in Springfield, Minnesota, from November 1912 to June 1913.
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 and 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 herself 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 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 Newbury Honor Award for this book, and the combined effects of it and her exhibition gave her the funds she needed to carry on her work without stress.
She died in New York City on June 27, 1946.
When Gág was 15, her father died of tuberculosis; his final words to her were: "Was der Papa nicht thun konnt', muss die Wanda halt fertig machen." ("What Papa couldn't do, Wanda will have to finish.") Following Anton's death the family was on welfare, and some townspeople thought that Gág should quit high school and get a steady job to help support her family. Despite this pressure, Gág continued her studies. After graduating in 1912, she taught country school in Springfield, Minnesota, from November 1912 to June 1913.
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 and 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 herself 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 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 Newbury Honor Award for this book, and the combined effects of it and her exhibition gave her the funds she needed to carry on her work without stress.
She died in New York City on June 27, 1946.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
September 2, 2023
The Funny Thing is an unusual fairy tale but lacks the surprise and charm of Wanda Gág’s Millions of Cats, which was published the year before. It also has an unsatisfying truncated feel even though it’s not actually shorter than Millions of Cats. The story centers on a Hobbit-like character named Bobo and his sudden encounter with the “funny thing,” a creature resembling a miniature dragon. Bobo soon learns that the funny thing’s favorite food is dolls and is distressed to think of how much this must upset the child owners of the devoured dolls. Fortunately, he figures out a solution that satisfies all.
Millions of Cats is the better book for a few reasons, not least of which is the focus on cuddly cats. That book also has an evenly paced story arc with various things happening so that suspense builds up to a big dilemma. The Funny Thing lacks these and is more simplistic--but that’s not the biggest problem. That would be the favorite-food reveal, which introduces unintended creepiness. The dolls-as-favorite-food is too close to babies-as-favorite-food. The Funny Thing reads like the work of an author who typically writes horror but didn’t quite succeed when branching out into children’s-book writing. Gág almost got this story right. The pleasant illustrations have her signature all over them. The premise has her fantastical quirkiness. If only the dilemma concerned something other than the creature’s eating.
Millions of Cats is the better book for a few reasons, not least of which is the focus on cuddly cats. That book also has an evenly paced story arc with various things happening so that suspense builds up to a big dilemma. The Funny Thing lacks these and is more simplistic--but that’s not the biggest problem. That would be the favorite-food reveal, which introduces unintended creepiness. The dolls-as-favorite-food is too close to babies-as-favorite-food. The Funny Thing reads like the work of an author who typically writes horror but didn’t quite succeed when branching out into children’s-book writing. Gág almost got this story right. The pleasant illustrations have her signature all over them. The premise has her fantastical quirkiness. If only the dilemma concerned something other than the creature’s eating.
June 1, 2020
Well, I just listened to a U-Tube reading of Wanda Gág's 1929 picture book The Funny Thing (which is considered by many to also be somewhat of a follow- up to her Newbery Award winning Millions of Cats) and then I ended up also reading the book online for free.
And The Funny Thing, it basically tells the strange story of a curious dragon-like, massively vain and full of itself "aminal" which only and very much deliberately so consumes children's dolls (so yes The Funny Thing might actually be a bit creepy for a very sensitive child who really loves his or her dolls, in particular since the "aminal" is also so very adamant about how much it loves eating dolls and how very delicious they happen to be). A kindly old mountain man named Bobo cannot stand by and allow the Funny Thing to keep on stealing dolls from children and eating them (especially since the "aminal" also says that it mostly only steals and eats the dolls of well-behaved, of good children, as they supposedly taste oh so much better). Thus Bobo entices the "aminal" to eat "jum-jills” which are a concoction he creates and cooks up himself from seven nut cakes, five seed puddings, two cabbage salads, and fifteen little cheeses, all rolled into little balls (and caters to the dragon like creature's vanity by saying that the "jum-jills" will make its tail grow and its blue colour more brilliant). A happy ending is assured when the Funny Thing actually discovers that it in fact really loves the taste of those concocted "jum-jills" and is also convinced that they are indeed making its tail grow longer and its blue points more visually striking, with the Funny Thing returning each day for its "jum-jill" treats and never consuming another doll.
But while I did enjoy listening to The Funny Thing being read aloud on U-Tube, I also have found that for a traditional picture book, Wanda Gág's text is in my opinion just a bit too wordy and also often just a trifle too potentially distracting for younger children (as there certainly is very much being described in The Funny Thing, from how Bobo the mountain man feeds his diverse animal friends to in meticulous detail how he meets and then outsmarts the "animal" the doll-eating dragon-like creature). And yes, when I finally did have the opportunity to look at the accompanying illustrations when I read The One Thing online (as with the U-Tube reading, that of course was not really possible, even when the reader zoomed in to try to show the illustrations). And the accompanying artwork, yes it does look like Wanda Gág's signature black and white drawings, expressive and interesting enough (and with very much detail), but also visually quite small in circumference and thus certainly not all that easy for children listening to someone reading The Funny Thing aloud to even see unless they are in fact holding the book themselves and being able to focus in on the drawings.
And The Funny Thing, it basically tells the strange story of a curious dragon-like, massively vain and full of itself "aminal" which only and very much deliberately so consumes children's dolls (so yes The Funny Thing might actually be a bit creepy for a very sensitive child who really loves his or her dolls, in particular since the "aminal" is also so very adamant about how much it loves eating dolls and how very delicious they happen to be). A kindly old mountain man named Bobo cannot stand by and allow the Funny Thing to keep on stealing dolls from children and eating them (especially since the "aminal" also says that it mostly only steals and eats the dolls of well-behaved, of good children, as they supposedly taste oh so much better). Thus Bobo entices the "aminal" to eat "jum-jills” which are a concoction he creates and cooks up himself from seven nut cakes, five seed puddings, two cabbage salads, and fifteen little cheeses, all rolled into little balls (and caters to the dragon like creature's vanity by saying that the "jum-jills" will make its tail grow and its blue colour more brilliant). A happy ending is assured when the Funny Thing actually discovers that it in fact really loves the taste of those concocted "jum-jills" and is also convinced that they are indeed making its tail grow longer and its blue points more visually striking, with the Funny Thing returning each day for its "jum-jill" treats and never consuming another doll.
But while I did enjoy listening to The Funny Thing being read aloud on U-Tube, I also have found that for a traditional picture book, Wanda Gág's text is in my opinion just a bit too wordy and also often just a trifle too potentially distracting for younger children (as there certainly is very much being described in The Funny Thing, from how Bobo the mountain man feeds his diverse animal friends to in meticulous detail how he meets and then outsmarts the "animal" the doll-eating dragon-like creature). And yes, when I finally did have the opportunity to look at the accompanying illustrations when I read The One Thing online (as with the U-Tube reading, that of course was not really possible, even when the reader zoomed in to try to show the illustrations). And the accompanying artwork, yes it does look like Wanda Gág's signature black and white drawings, expressive and interesting enough (and with very much detail), but also visually quite small in circumference and thus certainly not all that easy for children listening to someone reading The Funny Thing aloud to even see unless they are in fact holding the book themselves and being able to focus in on the drawings.
January 5, 2015
I can see how at first, it seems like a story about nothing, (no pun intended) but after thinking about the day and age this book was published.... the crash of 1929, when people were starving and had nothing to eat. It taught kids to be accepting of the food their parents conjured up for them. It's a powerful story that is lost due to the intricacy of the storyline to the times in which it was created. It is an all time classic and shows the genius of Ga'g, a very mis-understood story indeed. Well, adults living in those times saw her genius. Our generation has grown up with pretty much, everything and anything you want you get. SPOILED! lol
Put yourself in the mind set of a child growing up in a household where there may not be a lot to eat or your mother made soup out of the lawn and a boot(not exactly but)... *to accept and make use of what you have, and you would still grow up to be beautiful.
A Classic with just as much purpose, perhaps with greater and at the same time tamer intensity compared to Millions of Cats, another important story.
Put yourself in the mind set of a child growing up in a household where there may not be a lot to eat or your mother made soup out of the lawn and a boot(not exactly but)... *to accept and make use of what you have, and you would still grow up to be beautiful.
A Classic with just as much purpose, perhaps with greater and at the same time tamer intensity compared to Millions of Cats, another important story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2015
I didn't care for the art and I don't like the story. I will read it to a child, ages 4-6, and then, perhaps, revise my rating.
December 18, 2008
I think I loved this more than my children. I loved reading it aloud. I loved the pictures and the food, the deep cave that serves as a house, the nonsense words "jum-jills" and "aminal," the vanity of the Funny Thing. Indeed he was very pretty, such a tail and eyelashes! One of the kids' books we won't get rid of.
January 22, 2020
Come for the pictures and stay for the quietly wild story, where, incredibly, no one ends up looking bad. Even the foolish vain beast, for he saves the day. How I love Bobo's confidence, which does not feel overly so. It has the crisp definition of a fable, except (tra-la!) there is no obvious moral.
May 25, 2012
Notes:
Odd story -- mountain man stops a doll-eating dinosaur thing from eating dolls and in the end his tail grows really long.
But the illustrations are great.
Odd story -- mountain man stops a doll-eating dinosaur thing from eating dolls and in the end his tail grows really long.
But the illustrations are great.
November 13, 2025
BoBo é um ancião que cuidava dos animais à sua volta esperando-os com quitutes feitos por ele mesmo. Quando um "aminal" diferente aparece (o Esquisitão) e alega gostar de comer apenas bonecas, o ancião se sente na obrigação de mudar essa realidade!
Gente, que viagem! Amei, porém! ❤
Gente, que viagem! Amei, porém! ❤
July 25, 2018
Wow The Funny Thing.I must have read this book like a thousand times when I was a kid and then reading it to my little brothers.☺
May 10, 2020
One of my all time favorites
December 22, 2022
Bobo, “the good little man of the mountains” feeds the birds and squirrels and rabbits and mice with nuts and seeds and cabbage and cheese each suited to the creatures’ tastes. But one day a very strange animal comes to his cave looking for something to eat. “It looked something like a dog and also a little like a giraffe, and from the top of its head to the tip of its curled tail, there was a row of beautiful blue points.”
When Bobo inquires what kind of animal it is, it responds that it is not an animal at all. It claims that it is an “aminal,” then demands something to eat. It is completely uninterested in Bobo’s usual fare. It only wants dolls to eat, and the ones taken from good children are the best. Bobo tries to appeal to the sympathy of this strange “aminal,” by attempting to get it to understand that making children cry because their dolls have been devoured is not a good thing to do. But the Funny Thing is unaffected.
So, Bobo tries a different strategy which is flattery. Praising the Funny Thing for its beautiful blue points, he asks it how many jum-jills it must eat to grow so many. The Funny Thing has never heard of a jum-jill. Bobo explains that they are “funny little cakes which make blue points more beautiful and little tails grow into big ones.” Naturally the Funny Thing wants as many of those as it can get. Bobo rushes to his underground kitchen and begins to whip up some jum-jills which consist of a mixture of all the things that he has been feeding to the other animals. When he has a platter full he presents it to the Funny Thing who gobbles them down with great gusto.
The Funny Thing returns every day for more jum-jills until its tail is so long and heavy, as well as beautifully appointed that it’s no longer able to move. “So of course he ate up no more dolls and we have kind old Bobo to thank for that.”
When Bobo inquires what kind of animal it is, it responds that it is not an animal at all. It claims that it is an “aminal,” then demands something to eat. It is completely uninterested in Bobo’s usual fare. It only wants dolls to eat, and the ones taken from good children are the best. Bobo tries to appeal to the sympathy of this strange “aminal,” by attempting to get it to understand that making children cry because their dolls have been devoured is not a good thing to do. But the Funny Thing is unaffected.
So, Bobo tries a different strategy which is flattery. Praising the Funny Thing for its beautiful blue points, he asks it how many jum-jills it must eat to grow so many. The Funny Thing has never heard of a jum-jill. Bobo explains that they are “funny little cakes which make blue points more beautiful and little tails grow into big ones.” Naturally the Funny Thing wants as many of those as it can get. Bobo rushes to his underground kitchen and begins to whip up some jum-jills which consist of a mixture of all the things that he has been feeding to the other animals. When he has a platter full he presents it to the Funny Thing who gobbles them down with great gusto.
The Funny Thing returns every day for more jum-jills until its tail is so long and heavy, as well as beautifully appointed that it’s no longer able to move. “So of course he ate up no more dolls and we have kind old Bobo to thank for that.”
February 8, 2023
Interesting story about a wise man named Bobo who lives in the mountains and makes food for the animals to eat out of seeds and such. But then one day an unusual animal who is not an animal but an animal who calls itself the funny thing demands the man feed him dolls. Yes, dolls, dolls from good children, not bad. The old man's heart is broken and since the funny thing doesn't like the seeds and such, Bobo has to show just how smart he is by fooling the funny thing into eating something other than the dolls of good little children. I really enjoy Gag's illustrations and this story is very interesting. The funny thing is really a cute dinosaur creature. My rating - 4/5
January 18, 2022
I loved the pictures and the test style of the book more than the story really. I loved the Mountain man's home and the fact that he feeds the animals. It reminds me of a man in the book GRANDMOTHER CAT AND THE HERMIT by Elizabeth Coatsworth. I am glad to have found a copy of this book but I am sure it will take just the right sort to appreciate this book. The story is kind of unbelievable and fanciful.
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September 22, 2024Can't rate. I'm pretty sure that when I was a child I would wonder where Bobo was getting all his foodstuffs for all the animals, and why they couldn't find their own food as nature intended. But I could be wrong, maybe I'd just be interested in tricking the blue-pointed aminal? Well, not likely, because it had to sit still on the top of the mountain forever. A sort of open-air prison, imo. The art, though, of course, is wonderful. And my inner child still appreciates Millions of Cats.
February 15, 2020
In this classic, vintage story by Wanda Gag you meet the kind, old man from the mountain who fed all the animals. One day an aminal came, a Funny Thing, and this aminal ate dolls. And was happy about it and that made the old man sad. He tricked the Funny Thing into eating jum-jills, seed, cheese and nutballs. And no one had to lose another doll to the Funny Thing.
October 29, 2021
This is an odd story but that's probably just what might make it appeal to many children (young and old). As with Gag's other picture books (Millions of Cats, Snippy and Snappy), The Funny Thing has a great mix of illustrations and text to keep kids' interest as they listen to the story, while there are enough nonsense words and words plays to have some real fun with language.
December 6, 2022
This was one of my favorite stories as a young child, and it was a favorite of my mom's, too. She read it to me often.
Getting a dragon-like Thing to eat seed cakes instead of good children's dolls makes Bobo, the good little man of the mountain, the hero of this fun story.
Getting a dragon-like Thing to eat seed cakes instead of good children's dolls makes Bobo, the good little man of the mountain, the hero of this fun story.
December 30, 2023
This is a children's story that I have no recollection of reading when I was little, but it's a delight. Once again, Wanda Gág's artwork is just spectacular and pairs so perfectly with the tale. I loved it. What fun it is to enjoy some kid's books!
January 29, 2025
The illustrations immediately brought back a memory of her other book, Millions of Cats, which in my memory, I read with my grandma in her apartment. Creative book about finding your place in the world.
May 4, 2025
After discovering Wanda Gag's "Millions of Cats", I've become obsessed with her illustrations and storytelling. They are perfection! Her stories are so original and clever and a joy to read. I can't get enough!
April 23, 2020
Love this book
August 22, 2024
Read for The Rabbit Hole.
July 24, 2025
This is just an awesome story. The typeface of the book is also extraordinary. It all looks hand printed.
August 31, 2026
G’ag is a the master of odd, off-the-wall story ideas.
March 16, 2008
The "funny thing" that appears in this story is immediately accepted as real by Bobo. That's the charm of these kind of stories—and creates a subtext for how difference can be readily accepted into the world. In fact, "difference" is the thing that changes the "ho-hum" of the everyday into something supernaturally terrific.
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May 12, 2012I'm waiting inside the woods. I'm waiting inside the woods.
I'm bored. That's just because you're not filtered.
What's that? Bhhhrrrrr. What?
Ok. Go go!
OK, this is enough, I think I can do it, I think I can do it. Zoom!
Ahhh.
OK, go! Zoom zoom. Heading for the woods! Okay aaaand go! Forest World's Park.
I'm bored. That's just because you're not filtered.
What's that? Bhhhrrrrr. What?
Ok. Go go!
OK, this is enough, I think I can do it, I think I can do it. Zoom!
Ahhh.
OK, go! Zoom zoom. Heading for the woods! Okay aaaand go! Forest World's Park.
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May 24, 20121st Grade: Sharing the planet
Do you know what an 'aminal' is?? Do you know what they eat?? Neither did the old man that lived in the mountain! But he met one! And learned they eat dolls!! Wanna know what he did to avoid the 'aminal' from eating more dolls?? Well you're gonna have to read the book to find out!
Do you know what an 'aminal' is?? Do you know what they eat?? Neither did the old man that lived in the mountain! But he met one! And learned they eat dolls!! Wanna know what he did to avoid the 'aminal' from eating more dolls?? Well you're gonna have to read the book to find out!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2009
Odd little story, held the kids attention for a lap read aloud, although I think Sky was a little confused.
June 26, 2009
this is one of my favorite children's books.
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August 7, 2011love this nonsensical story. same with the millions of millions of cats story... Classic
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews