Wanda Gag (1893 – 1946)

Gag was born March 11, 1893, in New Ulm, Minnesota. Her father was an artist and photographer, who died of tuberculosis when she was 17, his reported last words being (in German) "What Papa couldn't do, Wanda will have to finish." After her father's death the family struggled financially. Wanda taught school briefly after graduating high school, then went on to study at the Saint Paul School of Art in 1913 and 1914 and The Minneapolis School of Art from 1914 to 1917.

In 1917 she moved to New York City and by 1919 was earning a living as a commercial artist. After having an illustrated story published in a magazine she was approached by a publisher to create children's book, and Millions of Cats, her most famous work, was published in 1928.

Gag wrote, illustrated and translated multiple other books, including ABC Bunny, Tales from Grimm and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

She died June 27, 1946 at the age of 53 from lung cancer.