The Cat Who Went to Heaven (1931)-- Elizabeth Coatsworth

This book was not what I expected at all--it's all about Buddhism, not St. Peter, pearly gates, and whatnot. A brief synopsis: a poor artist and his housekeeper get a cat. A bigwig from the local temple asks the artist to paint a picture of the Buddha's death, which is a big honor and could lead to some serious cash. The artist thinks a lot about Buddha and paints lots of animals in the scene, but not the cat, because apparently Buddha has an issue with a long ago feline not paying the proper respect and cats are thus not allowed in heaven. However, the artist paints the cat into the picture anyway, because it indicates that it really wants to be in the scene and is apparently pious, as it declines to pee on the work in progress or claw it to shreds. The cat is so happy to be in the painting that it immediately dies of joy overload. Then the temple bigwig takes the painting and burns it because there's a cat in it and Buddha hates cats, dammit! The end.

The Cat Who Went to Heaven holds up pretty well; I would never have guessed it was written so long ago. What I find puzzling is that this was considered a book for children. What is a kid supposed to get out of it? I have no idea. Today, this reads like a fable about the creative process that would beloved by the dangly-earringed members of an Artist's Way discussion group.