Wanda Gág
American artist and children's writer (1893-1946)
Wanda Hazel Gág ( GAHG; March 11, 1893 – June 27, 1946) was an American artist, author, translator, and illustrator. She is best known for writing and illustrating the children's book Millions of Cats, the oldest American picture book still in print. Gág was also a noted print-maker, receiving international recognition and awards. Growing Pains, a book of excerpts from the diaries of her teen and young adult years, received widespread critical acclaim. Two of her books were awarded Newbery Honors and two received Caldecott Honors. The New York Public Library included Millions of Cats on its 2013 list of 100 Great Children's Books.
Early years
Wanda Hazel Gág was born March 11, 1893, in the German-speaking community of New Ulm, Minnesota, to Elisabeth (née Biebl) Gag and the artist and photographer Anton Gag. The eldest of seven siblings, Wanda was 15 when her father died of tuberculosis. His final words to her were: "Was der Papa nicht thun konnt', muss die Wanda halt fertig machen." (transl. What Papa couldn't do, Wanda will just have to finish.)
Following his death, the family was on county relief (what served for "welfare" in 1908) and some townspeople thought that Wanda should quit high school and get a steady job to help support her family. Despite this pressure, Wanda continued with her high school education.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Wanda Gág” as american artist and children's writer (1893-1946). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american artist and children's writer (1893-1946). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1012900. VIAF identifies the subject as 14845492. The Library of Congress control number is n78089816. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1893, 1946, 2013 and 1908.
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This entry incorporates text from “Wanda Gág” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.