Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World [Mass Market Paperback]

Remember Marley: A Dog Like No Other, a canine greatly loved by his master? Well, here is Dewey, an abandoned orange kitten not only beloved by his mistress but by the entire town of Spencer, Iowa.

Dewey's origins were questionable as was his introduction to library director Vicki Myron. January 18, 1988 was a frigid Monday in Spencer. "It was a killing freeze, the kind that made it almost painful to breathe." When Vicki arrived at the library that morning her assistant told her she had heard a noise coming from a metal slot, the library's after-hours drop box behind the building. Soon, they both heard the noise and thought it was an animal. The opening of the box was only a few inches wide, so whatever it was had to be very small. Being metal the box was even colder than it was outside, and there in a corner of the box was a tiny kitten.

It was the most pitiful thing she had ever seen, so thin she could see every rib, and she could feel its heart beating, its lungs pumping. "The poor kitten was so weak it could barely hold up its head, and it was shaking uncontrollably. It opened its mouth, but the sound which came two seconds later, was weak and ragged." But one look into his big eyes and she was Dewey's and he was hers.

Dewey was not the only one who had endured hardship - Vicki was a single mom who had lost the family farm and survived an abusive husband. The people of Spencer were going through tough times during the farm crisis of that time. Depression, ennui seemed to be everywhere.

Nonetheless, Vicki was determined to capture the interest of those who came to the small library and hopefully make them a little happier. With the help of Dewey she did that and more. For 19 years he returned the affection of the townspeople twofold, amusing them, enchanting them, rubbing against many hands in gratitude for their caresses.

What difference can one small animal make? Dewey's story spread across state lines and even around the world. In 2003 Japanese Public Television filmed Dewey, and his obituary ran in well over 200 newspapers. His story will warm your hearts, make you laugh and cry. Don't miss it.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

This is the book of Dewey Readmore Books, a cat who began his association with the Public Library in Spencer, Iowa, on a day in which the weather was somewhere around -30 C without the wind-chill factoring in (the book lists it at -15 F). Of course, before we learn that fact, we get a history lesson about why Iowa is such a great place to live.

The book then goes on to explain a bit about how the kitten was allowed to stay in the Library—despite parental concerns about allergies and some crazy lady threatening to bring her cow in there if the cat didn't leave—and onto how he got his full name.

The book, unfortunately, falls off topic a lot, delving into much large issues of the time that have no relation to the cat's actions or existence. In fact, the author also took the opportunity to air out all the problems in her life (some against the express wishes of her family, according to the text) and that, along with the constant raising of Iowa on some sort of social pedestal, just soured the whole book for me. The general impression I got was of one of those parents who put their children on reality shows so they can exploit their talents and make a living as their agents. The book should have been about Dewey, instead more than half ended up being about the author, or the depression (financial, not strictly emotional) that was overtaking the town and country.

At the end, the book also seems to get strange about time. There's a reference to The Lion King in a section that seems to be taking place in 1989 (I was older than 5 when that movie came out, in fact, I believe it came out closer to 1994-1995). The confusion is even present when Dewey finally passes away. While it is certainly an emotional scene, the year remains somewhat unclear due to a strange choice to splice at least one chapter out of chronological order.

While other pet books could get away with insertion of the author's personal life into the narrative without effecting the rating I would give them ("Marley and Me" comes to mind as an example of such a book), this book was not advertised as that of the woman who ran a Library and the cat who happened to have lived there for many years, but rather the story of that cat and his effect on Spencer, Iowa.

[As I doubt that I would be tempted to reread this book (I may have been, if there was less off-topic personal stuff tossed in it), I donated my copy to the local Library.]

I love cats, I love libraries and I love cats that live in libraries or book shops. There is this little used bookshop in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada that is graced with the presence of a feline. During my first visit to this shop I was kneeling down on the floor looking at some books and reached out to touch a big fluffy pillow which turned out to be one big fat fluffy cat, I was delighted!

When I heard of "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" by Vicki Myron I had to read it. The first chapter about the rescue of Dewey from the returned book bin on the coldest night of the year is touching and it brought tears to my eyes. I also enjoyed reading about Dewey recovering and loving everyone he meets, but after the first few chapters the book just stops being magical and pretty much becomes a story that any cat owner could write. I was not that interested in the author's life and wanted to hear more about Dewey and his antics.