C is for Cats

Most of my life I have been owned by or at least influenced by a cat or two.  At present there is a small black cat who shares my abode.  She keeps me company and complains when I've been gone while ignoring me most of the time I am home.

One of the earliest stories I remember is Millions of Cats written and illustrated by Wanda Gág.  So it wasn’t surprising to me that I learned to tell Millions of Cats early on in my storytelling career.  I was teaching second grade and used my storytelling skills to enhance my teaching and to keep the children engaged while we had to wait – for lunch, for P.E., for recess, for library.  Right away they learned the refrain, “Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.”  And chanted with me each time I used the refrain.  Sometimes we enacted the story with the children being the cats trailing behind me as we “went over the sunny hills and through the cool valleys.”  For a Summer Reading program, where a craft was expected to go along with the stories, I came up with the idea of paper bag cat puppets.  The story has grown and changed through the years, but it is still one of my favorites to tell.

Other cat stories that come to mind are Puss in Boots, The Cat Who Went to Heaven, The White Cat, and, of course, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

Here is a link to a great cat blog.