Gág's picture book Millions of Cats was published, becoming the oldest American picture book still in print today.
On September 19, 1928, Coward-McCann published Wanda Gág's Millions of Cats, a picture book that would forever change the landscape of American children's literature. Gág both wrote and illustrated the book using her distinctive hand-lettered text integrated directly with bold, rhythmic black-and-white lithographic-style drawings that flowed across double-page spreads—a radical departure from the static, boxed illustrations typical of the era's children's books.
The story, rooted in the Central European folktale tradition Gág absorbed from her Bohemian heritage, tells of an old man who sets out to find a single cat for his lonely wife and instead brings home 'millions and billions and trillions of cats.' Its cumulative, musical refrain and whimsical repetition made it enormously popular with children and critics alike.
Millions of Cats is widely recognized as a landmark in the history of the American picture book: it was a Newbery Honor Book in 1929 and is often cited as the earliest American picture book still continuously in print. Its innovative integration of text and image, page-turning pacing, and the way illustrations dictated the reading experience influenced generations of picture-book creators who followed, including Maurice Sendak and Robert McCloskey. The book cemented Gág's reputation as a pioneer who elevated the picture book from a minor commercial product to a serious art form.