The cat who went to heaven

The Cat Who Went to Heaven is a 1930 novel by Elizabeth Coatsworth that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1931. On January 1, 2026, the novel entered the public domain in the USA. The story is about a penniless Japanese artist and a calico cat his housekeeper brings home.
The storyline is supposedly based on an old Buddhist folk tale, and includes, as asides, a short telling of the Buddha's life, and brief accounts of some of the Buddha's previous lifetimes as animals, as in the Jataka tales.
At the end of each of the eight chapters is one of the housekeeper's songs, her insightful commentary on what is happening. (This summary is from Wikipedia.)