The Cat Who Went to Heaven

Newbery Medal, 1931

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ELIZABETH COATSWORTH

Coatsworth (1893-1986) wrote fiction and poetry for children and adults with over 90 published works. In addition to the Newbery Medal, she received the Hans Christian Anderson Award for the body of her work.

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LYND WARD, Illustrator

1930 & 1958 Editions

Ward (1905-1985), artist and storyteller, influenced the development of graphic novels though his wordless novels illustrated with wood engravings. He illustrated over a hundred children's books including the 1953 Caldecott Medal book The Biggest Bear. In 1973 Ward created a wordless children's book, The Silver Pony, told through paintings of white, black and gray.

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The artist imagined how his little cat felt, so gentle, so sweet, but cursed forever. All the other animals might receive the Buddha's blessing and go to heaven, but the little cat heard the doors of Nirvana closed before her. Tears came to his eyes.

"I cannot be so hard-hearted," he said. "If the priests wish to refuse the picture as inaccurate, let them do so. I can starve."

He took up his best brush, dipped it in spring water, touch it with ink, and last of all the animals, drew a cat."

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SYNOPSIS

A poor artist, his housekeeper and a cat. The story is simple – a poor artist is commissioned by the priest to paint a depiction of animals paying homage to the Buddha at his death. According to Buddhist legend, the only animal denied Buddha's blessing is the cat for refusing to accept the Buddha's teachings. While the artist is a devout Buddhist, he is prompted by his compassion for the cat to commit sacrilege by adding the cat to the beautiful scroll even if it costs him the temple's patronage.

The moral?

Compassion is the culmination of devotion and greater than any single teaching in a faith's tradition.

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WORLD CONTEXT

It's interesting that this book was published just a year into the Great Depression, essentially at the beginning of a decade of widespread poverty. While the majority of people in the US were not on relief during the Depression, the majority did prioritize thriftiness. Bringing a pet home when hunger was a daily issue would be unthinkable.

It is a fascinating time to raise the question of the the potential cost of compassion. Which is more powerful: kindness or hunger?

LEARNING CONNECTIONS

World religions
Buddhism
Folk Tales
Feudal Japan
History of art patronage
Animal welfare
Great Depression

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Ages: 8-12, Grades: 3-7. Excellent for reading aloud; 100 pages, "chapters" separated by poetry - The Songs of the Housekeeper.

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