Children's Books discussion

The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly was the winner. Several books got Honors:

The Pigtail Of Ah Lee Ben Loo by John Bennett
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
The Boy Who Was by Grace T. Hallock
Clearing Weather by Cornelia Meigs
The Runaway Papoose by Grace Moon
Tod Of The Fens by Elinor Whitney

Did you read them? Do you remember any of the ideas discussed in the group when we read them together? Did you write any reviews that you would be willing to copy to this thread?

This thread will not close - feel free to add thoughts, questions, etc. now or in the future.

I found Millions of Cats pretty interesting and quite thought-provoking for a picture book originally published in 1929 (and I think it is still in print), although I would not call it a personal favourite.

While I enjoyed the story itself, I did not find the illustrations all that appealing. I have never really liked black and white illustrations all that much, and the many, many cats together kind of remind 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 rather 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 previously 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. Also, because there is quite an element of disbelief present (the old man brings home not just too many cats, but millions of them) it probably renders the story less problematic for children, who often seem able to accept the often grotesque violence in fairy and folk tales, simply because it is unbelievable, or just too exaggerated.

For me, this is not only an entertaining and intriguing story (albeit one with illustrations that I personally do 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 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 could and should also be interpreted 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 domestic animals to overrun nature.

The Trumpeter of Krakow, I've been meaning to read this, thanks for reminding me.

I'm pretty sure we read Trumpeter of Krakow in the old group. I bought the book but didn't get a chance to read it when they did. I think Tod of the Fens was also one of the chosen selections, but I didn't read it either. I think I was just joining the group at that point.

I agree, Gundula, about Millions of Cats being both 1. enough of a fantasy that the (supposed) violence is not disturbing and 2. an allegory of man's responsibility to wild & feral animals and to the natural world as a whole. Even as a young child I totally picked up on that lesson - I think because the rhythm of the chorus of the text is so hypnotic, the story stays with the reader, giving her a chance to mull it over in the context of the rest of her daily life. At least, so it was for me.

I agree that the pictures aren't necessarily appealing or attractive. But I do believe they are effective. As you say, a mass of catdom. I remember, as a child, spending time with the pictures, trying to find interesting individuals, trying to decide which one I'd keep if I were in the old couple's place.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "I agree, Gundula, about Millions of Cats being both 1. enough of a fantasy that the (supposed) violence is not disturbing and 2. an allegory of man's responsibility to wild & feral animals and to t..."

I would agree that the pictures are definitely effective.

I have read Trumpeter of Krakow and Millions of Cats. The Trumpeter I read once, many years ago, so do not remember much about it.
I have read Millions of Cats many times, and loved the rhythmic refrain. I read it strictly as an exaggerated fantasy of a couple with way too many cats; I never read into the story anything about envirnomentalism or pet responsibility.