World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Wanda Hazel Gág

ワンダ・ヘイゼル・ガーグ

Wanda Gag

Pen Names: Gág (as signature)（Used as a professional signature on artworks and books）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1893-03-11 （New Ulm, Minnesota, US）
Died
1946-06-27 （New York City, US） age 53
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
New Ulm, Minnesota (birthplace, childhood) → New York City (professional base) → Glen Gardner, New Jersey (rented farm, c.1925–1930) → Milford, New Jersey (purchased farm 'All Creation', from 1931)

Career

Occupations
artist, children's author, illustrator, translator
Active Years
1912-1946
Affiliations
Society of American Graphic Artists, Relationship with Weyhe Gallery (sales/exhibitions)
Influenced By
Grimm fairy tales and folk traditions, Her father Anton Gag and her artistically active family
Influenced
Later children's authors and illustrators who integrate image and text, Artists and printmakers influenced by her picture-book and printmaking work

Education

The Saint Paul School of Art
Period: 1913–1914
Country: United States
Attended on a scholarship with assistance from friends
The Minneapolis School of Art
Period: 1914–1917
Year of Graduation: 1917
Country: United States
Studied under the patronage of Herschel V. Jones
Art Students League of New York
Period: 1917頃
Country: United States
Studied composition, etching and advertising illustration

Awards

Newbery Honor
1929
Work: Millions of Cats
Organization: Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
Result: 受賞
Newbery Honor
Work: The ABC Bunny
Result: 受賞
Caldecott Honor
Work: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (translation)
Organization: Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
Result: 受賞
Caldecott Honor
Work: Nothing at All
Organization: Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
Result: 受賞
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (posthumous)
1958
Result: 受賞（追贈）
Kerlan Award (posthumous)
1977
Organization: Kerlan Collection / University of Minnesota
Result: 受賞（追贈）
Original Art Lifetime Achievement Award (posthumous)
2018
Organization: Society of Illustrators
Result: 受賞（追贈）}],

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Millions of Cats

1928 Children's literature (picture book), folk-tale style

A folk-tale–style picture book written and illustrated by Gág, originally told to entertain children. An elderly couple set out to bring home 'millions' of cats and confront choices, jealousy and resolution. Noted for its strong line work, economy of text and enduring popularity; one of the oldest American picture books still in print.

folk taleanimalsfamilyhumor
Adaptations
  • [Television (read-aloud segment)] Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories — Millions of Cats (read-aloud) / Shelley Duvall (シリーズ製作) (1992)
Translations
  • Translated into multiple languages; various editions exist

The ABC Bunny

1933 Children's literature (picture book)

An alphabet-themed picture book for children, playful illustrations and text designed to engage young readers' sense of language.

educationalphabetplay
Translations
  • Published in multiple language editions

Growing Pains: Diaries and Drawings for the Years 1908–1917

1940 Memoir / diaries

A volume compiling diaries and drawings from her teen and young adult years, offering insight into her formative development and creative process.

autobiographycoming-of-ageartistic development

Nothing At All

1941 Children's literature (picture book)

A children's picture book dealing with themes of existence and self; combines imaginative illustrations with concise text.

existencefantasyself-discovery

Bibliography

  • Batiking at Home: a Handbook for Beginners (1926)
  • Millions of Cats (1928)
  • The Funny Thing (1929)
  • Snippy and Snappy (1931)
  • Wanda Gág’s Storybook (1932)
  • The ABC Bunny (1933)
  • Gone is Gone; or, the Story of a Man Who Wanted to Do Housework (1935)
  • Tales from Grimm (translator & illustrator, 1936)
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (translator & illustrator, 1938)
  • Growing Pains (1940)
  • Nothing At All (1941)

Adaptations

  • Millions of Cats featured as a read-aloud segment on Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories (1992)
  • Bronze sculpture of Wanda Gág with a cat installed at New Ulm public library (2016)

Translations by Author

  • Tales from Grimm (1936) and other Grimm translations illustrated by Gág

Translations of Works

  • Works such as Millions of Cats have been translated into multiple languages

Style & Themes

Literary Style
folk-tale narrative voiceconcise, ear-friendly prosestrong linework and decorative printmaking style
Recurring Motifs
cats and animalshome and rural settingshandcraft and printmaking textures

Health

  • Lung cancer
    1946年まで（罹患期間の詳細不明）
    Died of lung cancer in New York City in June 1946; the illness affected late-career activity.

Legacy

Wanda Gág is celebrated both as a children's author and as a printmaker. Millions of Cats remains one of the oldest American picture books still in print. Her works are held in museum collections and archival repositories, and she has received several posthumous honors.

Museums

  • Wanda Gág House (childhood home / museum) New Ulm, Minnesota, US
  • Minneapolis Institute of Art (holds works) Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
  • Whitney Museum of American Art (holds works) New York City, US

Academic Societies

  • Society of American Graphic Artists

Archives

  • University of Minnesota, Kerlan Collection (Wanda Gág Collection)
  • New York Public Library (papers and materials)
  • University of Pennsylvania Libraries (Kislak Collection)
  • Free Library of Philadelphia
  • Minneapolis Institute of Art (prints and drawings)

In Popular Culture

  • Millions of Cats featured as a read-aloud segment on Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories (1992)
  • Bronze sculpture of Gág and a cat erected at New Ulm public library (2016)
  • Sandbox Theatre produced a play focused on her childhood (2017)

Quotes

  • "It bears all the hallmarks of becoming a perennial favorite among children, and it takes a place of its own, both for the originality and strength of its pictures and the living folk-tale quality of its text. ... Wanda Gág became quite unconsciously a regenerative force in the field of children's books."
    Source: Anne Carroll Moore (comment on Millions of Cats) (1928)

Trivia

  • Millions of Cats is regarded as one of the oldest American picture books still in print.
  • Millions of Cats was first published in 1928 and received a Newbery Honor in 1929.
  • Millions of Cats entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.