# The Cat Who Went to Heaven [1930 Edition Illustrated by Lynn Ward]

**Author:** Elizabeth Coatsworth
**Grade range:** Grades 3–7
**First published:** 1930
**Page count:** 0
**Genre:** Juvenile Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9798898780319`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-cat-who-went-to-heaven
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

In the 1930 first edition (awarded the 1931 Newbery Medal) Illustrated by Lynn Ward, the story unfolds in ancient Japan through the eyes of an impoverished artist and his gentle housekeeper. Their meager existence is challenged when the housekeeper returns from the market with a tricolor cat named Good Fortune instead of the food they desperately need. Though the artist initially views the cat as a "devil" and a burden, he is slowly won over by the creature's meditative nature and seemingly prayerful devotion, eventually coming to believe she is a true blessing in their home. The narrative is structured around the artist's prestigious commission to paint a silk scroll of the Death of the Buddha for the local temple. As he works, the book introduces a series of lyrical interludes and "songs

## Where this book is assigned

### Newbery Medal

- **recommended** · 3rd grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1931 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)
- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1931 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1931 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)
- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1931 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)
- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1931 Newbery Medal winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal)

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