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Dewey

The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

Dewey is the heartwarming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa, as told by his owner and companion of nineteen years, Vicki Myron, the librarian who found him on a frigid January morning when he was abandoned as a kitten in the book drop slot. It is also the story of a remarkable small town, which burned down at the beginning of the Depression, only to rebuild itself, and which was almost shuttered during the farm crisis of the 1980s, before regrouping and rededicating itself to small town American values. Dewey's local charm and worldwide fame became a symbol of hope for this recovering town. Through Dewey's antics, we come to know and love many of the colorful and inspiring people of Spencer. But perhaps the most inspiring person in Spencer is Vicki Myron herself, a single mother who survived the bankruptcy of her family farm and working in a box factory to put two of her brothers through college to become one of the leaders of the Iowa library system. Dewey is one lovable, roguish cat who managed to transform an entire town and inspire people across the globe.

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  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Dewey Readmore Books, the cat found in the book drop on a cold winter morning, put Spencer, Iowa, and its library on the map, with fans as far away as Japan. Suzanne Toren reads librarian Vicki Myron's account of the cat who was a part of the community for 19 years with a librarian's precise enunciation, yet she makes anecdotes about Dewey's love of chasing rubber bands or his one escape from the library touch the heart. Toren's voice remains upbeat while conveying the blend of love, bemusement, and occasional frustration that cat owners will identify with. Listeners--even those without cats of their own--will enjoy getting acquainted with a friendly, mischievous cat who "thought of himself--correctly--as one of a kind." J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 28, 2008
      One frigid Midwestern winter night in 1988, a ginger kitten was shoved into the after-hours book-return slot at the public library in Spencer, Iowa. And in this tender story, Myron, the library director, tells of the impact the cat, named DeweyReadmore Books, had on the library and its patrons, and on Myron herself. Through her developing relationship with the feline, Myron recounts the economic and social history of Spencer as well as her own success story—despite an alcoholic husband, living on welfare, and health problems ranging from the difficult birth of her daughter, Jodi, to breast cancer. After her divorce, Myron graduated college (the first in her family) and stumbled into a library job. She quickly rose to become director, realizing early on that this “was a job I could love for the rest of my life.” Dewey, meanwhile, brings disabled children out of their shells, invites businessmen to pet him with one hand while holding the Wall Street Journal
      with the other, eats rubber bands and becomes a media darling. The book is not only a tribute to a cat—anthropomorphized to a degree that can strain credulity (Dewey plays hide and seek with Myron, can read her thoughts, is mortified by his hair balls)—it's a love letter to libraries.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 24, 2008
      In a world where a bad dog topped bestseller lists for years, it's inevitable that a library cat would soon make a bid to win the hearts of a nation. According to Mayron, this has already happened. Dewey is not bad, just occasionally mischievous enough to provide opportunities for the narrator to coo. Suzanne Toren wholeheartedly devotes herself to the first-person account of the author's travels with Dewey and only occasionally meanders into the sugar bowl. Dewey's story is a testament to how something small with a big heart can have an incalculable effect on a community. Anyone with at least one cat is guaranteed to get a lump in his or her throat as the orange fluff-ball connects with a severely disabled girl in one particularly affecting scene, memorably brought to life by Toren in her librarian persona. A Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, July 28).

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 7, 2009
      This genial if cutesy adaptation of the authors' bestselling Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
      gets an energetic boost from James's digitally rendered art. Animal-loving readers will be charmed by the realistic, closeup depictions of young library patrons and their tender (and sometimes not-so-tender) interactions with Dewey, who is based on a real-life feline adopted by Myron after it was abandoned in the book drop of her Iowa library. The narrative becomes overly precious, though, when it ventures inside Dewey's head: “ 'Babies are wonderful
      ,' Dewey thought. “Cute and SMELL-icious, too
      .” And as he joins story hour he thinks, “Wowzy whiskers, this looks fun.” Despite being manhandled by some young patrons, the cat confides to his toy mouse that he is determined to help people (“I'm ninety-two percent convinced that that's the reason I'm around”) and makes good on his promise by cheering up a sad girl who's reading alone. He then proclaims himself a “REAL library cat,” which (the story concludes, on a well-worn note) “felt... purr-fect
      !” Ages 3–6.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:820
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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