Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World | 
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Product Description
How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.
Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.
As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.
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Customer Reviews:
• Homerun Heartwarmer! 29 June, 2009
My kids bought this book for me as a Mother's Day present as they know that I love both cats and books. They were right.
This book will brighten your day as it tells about how a town fell in love with THEIR library cat. Dewey. Dewey may have started out with rather tough beginnings as a cat of unknown parentage, left to die in a cold book drop box, and found with frost bitten feet by the town librarian. His future became brighter though after he found his home in the town library. Everyone loved Dewey and he loved them back!
As this book proves, our pets love us unconditionally and have true loyalty no matter the situation. Dewey was no different as he found great joy in rubbing legs, giving head butts, and sitting in laps.
He loved children and the children loved him.
He was tonic for a town's soul when an economic crisis loomed.
He was the library joker by chasing rubber bands or rubbing in catnip.
Most of he was the library cat with a heart.
High marks and a must read!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3EPHBMU07LZ50
• Wonderful Story 02 July, 2009
I was hesitant to read this book because I'm not a cat person but it was wonderful and was about a lot more than just a cat. I am from a small town and could relate to that part of the story.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2EY2YR24WMH3L
• Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched The World. 29 June, 2009
Anyone who loves cats will love this book. I highly recommend it. I'm just sorry I'm only hearing about Dewey now and not while he was still alive. I would loved to have travelled to meet him.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AE9159YYQYBH9
• The Story Of Dewey Is Not Easily Forgotten 01 July, 2009
The heartfelt story of Dewey, the library cat is also the courageous story of librarian Vicki Myron and of the town of Spencer, Iowa. Each plays a large part of this real-life tale and how the lives of a discarded kitten, a single mother librarian who finds the kitten and nurses him back to life and a small mid-west town effected by economic stresses become so tightly intertwined.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2NLGTCPJEFD6S
• It's Not Just About Dewey - It's About His Community 30 June, 2009
This book is one of the most outstanding, and touching books I've ever read. In fact, I've just started reading it for the second time, something that I've never done with any other book. This story made me fall in love with a cat I'd never even met.
I do think that some of the previous reviewers missed a point and erred in their reviews when they complained that Vicki tells too much of her own story or that of her town and people of Spencer, Iowa. As you read this book, I think you'll realize that Dewey cannot be separated from the people he affected without ruining the story or at least losing some of its impact. I have to admit that when I first was reading through the book, I did ask myself: "why is she telling us this?", or "why is she giving us her biography in a book that's supposed to be about Dewey"? But then I realized exactly why she was smart enough to include all of this seemingly unimportant history.
You see, this book is not just about Dewey. It's not just about Vicki Myron. It's not even about the town of Spencer and its people and the awe they felt for Dewey. It's about their connection to each other. It's about how Dewey affected them, each in their own unique way. It's about the effect he had on the countless people who simply passed through Spencer, many of them coming just to meet Dewey. And let us not forgot all those, who, like me, never even met him. And yes, there is something for you, dear reader (if you have a heart beating in your chest, rest assured, Dewey's story will affect you). As you read this book, you may very well find yourself connecting with Dewey. That comes in part from understanding the community of people and the hardships they faced, the life-altering events they experienced and then how they dealt with it all. Even those events from many decades ago, helps us truly appreciate the profound effect Dewey had on the people he reached out to. Understanding Vicki and her life tells us all the more about not only Dewey's affect on her, but also the whys and wherefores of his presence, and his fascinating ability to sense who needed him and when. It's a story about how the community of Spencer, Iowa came together to deal with tragedy and crisis, usually with Dewey as the unifying factor. It teaches us that not only we can do the same, but that we should do the same. And let's not forget the Library. Dewey made his library important and famous. He did that, perhaps for all libraries, and highlighted their true significance and their need in each community, or perhaps, more accurately, our need for them, something we have lost connection with in our modern technological age. He let us know that the real reason they exist is not merely as a warehouse for books, but as a meeting place for the heart of our true selves. It is a place for true community connection. He was the conduit for that connection with Spencer and all who dropped in for a visit.
Let's say, for the sake of argument, you eliminate the background story of the man who had just become a widower, or of the one who has just lost his job, with no prospects for the foreseeable future, or the homeless man, who sat by himself day after day. We'd be left with nothing more than a cute little anecdote about Dewey sitting on their lap and giving them some affection. We'd miss out on the reason(s) why each of them was there, and most importantly, what that little cat's love meant to these men. We would be ignorant as to why they smiled for the first time in weeks - even if they weren't aware of the smile escaping there face. Taking it a step further, if you thus eliminate all the background stories and biographies, etc., then we'd miss out entirely on Dewey's true worth and the value he had to his Community, both Spencer's and everyone else with whom he came in contact, whether personally, or through this book. All we'd be left with would be a collection of feline anecdotes. Instead it tells us of how a cat lifted the spirits of community when they needed it most. It seems as though that's all he lived for - to help the people he loved, which was all of us.
I think it also teaches us that animals serve and important role to us humans. Animals, like Dewey, give us unconditional love, regardless of who we are, what we've been through or how we react to our circumstances. Beyond that, they can help us to see what really matters. As they comfort and calm us, they allow us to perhaps see things in a better light, from a different perspective, and certainly with a better mood. It also tells as that the grief from losing a beloved pet can go as deep as any other grief we experience, and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling that way. This was a story that needed to be told. I for one, am glad Vicki told us, for I, unfortunately, had never even heard of Dewey Readmore Books and until I saw this book sitting prominently on the shelves of every book story in my community. One look at that face on the cover, and I knew I had to buy this book and read it! Never did I suspect I'd end up reading it twice, well, twice so far. Nor did expect to learn all the things I did from a cat name Dewey Readmore Books.
So please, read this book. Read it for enjoyment. Read it to someone you love. Read it to laugh. Read it to cry. Read it to learn something about life and love and community. But most of all, understand what it's really all about, then perhaps you'll not only enjoy the book, you might even learn a life-lesson from it. I think one of them is that all of us should probably visit our local library a lot more often than we do. It's all but certain that you will come to love the late, great Dewey himself.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2VPEDJQCOQM9D
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