“Once upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman. They lived in a nice clean house which had flowers all around it, except where the door was. But they couldn’t be happy because they were so very lonely.”

Millions of Cats is said to be the inaugural modern American picture book. The text is hand lettered with pen and ink illustrations, and on the first page we get a folktale-like view of the very old man and the very old woman and their little house. As the story progresses the old man sets out on a journey to find a cat to relieve their loneliness, but he is a somewhat indecisive fellow. He ends up finding and bringing home, not one cat but rather:

What do I love about this book? I love the little old woman who thinks that a nice fluffy cat will assuage their loneliness. I love the little old man who agrees to travel far and wide to fulfill his wife’s desire. I love all of the cats, covering the hills in the distance and in the foreground sitting, pouncing, cavorting, and even one dancing on its hind legs. And I even love the rather violent solution to the problem of too many cats where the old couple are left with just one very special, pretty cat. I spent some time as a child trying to figure out how all of those cats could eat each other up with only one little noncombatant cat remaining. I never did understand it, which just made the book more beautifully mysterious.

Deborah Ray Kogan has written a picture book biography about Wanda Gag and about the road to the writing and publication of Millions of Cats. I haven’t read it, but it looks like a great book for background and extra information on the author and her life. Until I get around to the biography, however, I’ll just get out my copy of Millions of Cats every once in a while and read it to a child or read it for myself–with a cup of hot chocolate or tea in a rocking chair just like the very old man and the very old woman on the final page of the book. And maybe our one cat will be playing happily at my feet.

April’s Kittens by Clare Turlay Newberry, Caldecott Honor book, 1941.

This picture book is first of all a Cat Book. If you’re a cat person, you will probably like it, and if not . . . maybe you will still enjoy the story. And the illustrations. Ms. Newberry must have been a Cat Person who liked to draw cats because she wrote and illustrated at least two other cat books, Mittens, about a boy named Richard who wants a cat and Babette, about the adventures of a Siamese kitten. Her picture book Barkis, another Caldecott Honor book, is about a cocker spaniel, but it has a kitten in it, too. And Marshmallow, yet another Caldecott Honor book features a rabbit and a cat. Cats are everywhere in Clare Turlay Newberry’s books, and the cat pictures in April’s Kittens are as endearing as the story.

April is a “nice little girl” who lives in New York City with her mother, her father, and a black cat named Sheba. Other than the slightly old-fashioned interactions between April’s parents, there is nothing in the story or the illustrations that dates the story or makes it less than timeless. The family lives in a small “one-cat apartment” because “nobody has much room in New York because so many people are trying to live there at the same time.” That certainly sounds like present day New York City. And when Sheba has three kittens, April’s daddy says that they can only keep one cat, either Sheba or one of the kittens.

The remainder of the story is about what happens to Sheba and her kittens, Charcoal, Butch, and Brenda. April, of course, wants to keep all four cats, but there just is not enough room. April is six years old and still sleeps in a crib because there is not enough room for a real bed for her in their tiny apartment. To find out how April and her family solve their cat dilemma and their space dilemma, you’ll have to read the story.

This picture book is a bit more text-heavy than some more modern picture books, with several paragraphs on one page and a large illustration on the facing page. However, it would be perfectly readable in one read aloud session for five and six year olds, maybe even younger. And again, if you or your child is a Cat Person, then the story will not be too long, nor will the pictures lose their appeal even after much perusal.

Another beautiful Caldecott Honor book.

This is the story of a boy who was made the ruler of a warlike country when he was eight years old and who managed to compel obedience from the rebellious barons who surrounded him; who grew up to be a wise leader and an able general and who, moreover, had such physical strength that no other man could bend his hunting bow; who envied a green and bountiful island and made war on the people who lived there with the result that a famous battle was fought. This boy who became one of the most turbulent figures of the Middle Ages was to be known ever after as William the Conqueror.

I absolutely love Thomas Costain’s four volume history of the Plantagenet dynasty and their rule over England for adults, so I was poised to enjoy this Landmark book about William the Conqueror as well. And I did. Costain has a lively, gossipy style of writing, and he keeps the narrative going full speed even when the battles turn into long sieges or William himself becomes old and fat and sedentary. Of course, William had a pretty eventful and colorful life, so there’s lots of material to work with in telling his story.

Unfortunately, I have to be the critic and say that one particular event in William’s life that was included in the book would have been better left out of a book for young people. Beginning on page 60, Costain tells the story of William’s courtship of his future wife, Matilda. William continued this courtship of a reluctant daughter of the Count of Flanders for seven years, but finally, as the story goes, he had enough. He confronted Matilda when she was coming out of church, ripped off her cloak, and shook her, saying “I shall wait on your caprices no longer!” Matilda fell to the ground, and William rode off.

The author’s commentary on this disturbing scene is even more disturbing:

“Perhaps it is from this instance, and many similar ones which can be found in the pages of history, that a belief has come down even to modern times about the best method to be used in courtship. Certainly it has been widely believed that women like to won by force. Matilda proceeded to add substance to the belief. She made up her mind at once that she wanted to marry William of Normandy after all.”

Since the entire story is a legend rather than a documented fact and since the Landmark series is written for middle grade and young adult readers, this story could have rephrased or left out altogether. Other than that, though, I found nothing to complain about in the book and much to praise. William has traits to be admired and even emulated and others that are not so admirable. Readers will get an introduction to British history and a good story to boot.

All Around the Town by Phyllis McGinley. Illustrated by Helen Stone.

All Round Town is an alphabet book with a short city-themed poem for each letter of the alphabet. Some of the poems’ subjects are a bit outdated: “D’s the Dairy Driver” and “H is for the horses/That haul their city loads.” Nevertheless, the poems are delightful little vignettes of city life in the 1940’s. I especially liked “Q is for the Quietness/Of Sunday avenues” and “S is the snorting subway/That slithers below the ground.” As you can see, Ms. McGinley uses simple poetic devices such as alliteration and personification to draw the reader or listener into the poetry and make it memorable. This book would be a lovely introduction to poetry for preschool or kindergarten story time.

The illustrations remind me of Louis Slobodkin or Ludwig Bemelmans. It’s a style of illustration that was popular in the 40’s but isn’t so much today. Some of the drawings, like the one of the subway dragon, I liked. Others were too smudgy and indistinct for me. Some are black and and white and some color. Maybe it’s a matter of taste. The two in this post are a couple of my favorites.

Phyllis McGinley was the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for her book Times Three. She was the first to be awarded the poetry prize for a collection of light verse. This book, published in 1948, came before the recognition and honors were bestowed. In fact, Ms. McGInley was criticized for writing “light verse” and poetry for children. Sylvia Plath said McGInley had “sold herself” and couldn’t be taken seriously as a poet. Other writers and feminist of the time also heckled. But McGinley remained a committed Catholic Christian and homemaker and poet all her life.

This Caldecott Honor book has the most beautiful black and white illustrations of musicians from the jazz era and a little boy who imagines himself playing the trumpet with them. The illustrations capture the feeling of jazz music and African American jazz musicians and the city, probably New York City, where its origins lie. Rachel Isadora was a professional ballet dancer in her youth before a foot injury redirected her interests into art and illustration. I think because of that experience as a dancer she has a feel for music and for the souls of musicians. That feeling comes through in the artwork in Ben’s Trumpet.

The story is rather simple. Ben, a young Black boy in the city loves to listen to the music coming from the Zig Zag Jazz Club near his home. He especially loves the trumpet, and he imagines that he is playing his own trumpet. When the other boys make fun of him and tell him that he doesn’t have a real trumpet, Ben is embarrassed and quits playing his imaginary trumpet. But the trumpeter from the Zig Zag Jazz Club comes to the rescue and becomes Ben’s mentor.

A few of the pictures in the book didn’t bother me, but might offend some. The men in the jazz club and in Ben’s family are shown with cigarettes and alcohol and playing cards, presumably gambling. And Ben’s naked baby brother sits on the couch in one picture, full frontal nudity. But he’s a baby, and babies do sometimes run around naked.

I am told that there is an audio version of this picture book that includes musical interludes and accompaniment appropriate to the story. The audiobook would probably enhance the reading of the book, but the illustrations are not to be missed. So ideally you should purchase and read both together.

Two of my favorite pictures from the book: