DEWEY-A REVIEW AND WINNERS

DEWEY
THE SMALL-TOWN LIBRARY CAT
WHO TOUCHED THE WORLD
By Vicki Myron with Brett Witter

A Review by "Bingo"

Dewey would best be called a biography because it is the story of the life of one Dewey Readmore Books, a cat. A cat whose story started out as an abandoned kitten but who went on to lead a most remarkable life. A life filled with love, inspiration, and world-wide fame! If you have not heard of Dewey, it is hard to believe but let me catch you up. Dewey was just a tiny abandoned kitten someone had stuffed into the library drop box at the Spencer Public Library in Spencer, Iowa. He was discovered when Vicki Myron, the librarian, heard a noise coming from the metal night book drop box when she opened the library one morning in 1988 when the weather outside was below zero. Dewey, who had no name at the time, was a teeny, disheveled, half frozen kitten who beat the odds and survived the night in the box.

Spencer, Iowa, the setting of this tail, oops, tale, was a depressed farm town in crisis due to economy and the farm failures, and it was the wonderful strong people of this town who gave Dewey his name. Obviously, he was named after Melvil Dewey where libraries got the book classification system of numbers we can all remember having to learn in school. Dewey quickly made himself at home and as he grew, so did his popularity and his fame. He especially liked to watch the tap-tap-tap of the typewriter and to hide amongst the boxes.

He was Dewey, the library cat and he touched the world with his adorable ways and loving touch. When library patrons would sit to read, there was Dewey. As you searched for books in the stacks, who would suddenly peep out at you and help you pick out just the right book but Dewey. Dewey loved story hour when Librarian Vicki would read to the young children and Vicki especially loved Dewey. He became her cat officially although he belonged to the world.

Vicki Myron tells her own story intertwined with Dewey’s. She was a struggling single mom who lived a hard life having lost her family farm and been in a marriage with an abusive husband. She went back to school and became a librarian as well as laying claim to being her family’s first college graduate. She went on to become the director of the Spencer Public Library and it was there she lived and worked for the people of Spencer and there that she met Dewey. Dewey lived in the library and was loved as the book chronicles by people all over the world. Whether it was the man in the wheel chair who Dewey would comfort as he hopped into his lap so the man could pet Dewey as he read, or visitors from afar who came just to see and film Dewey, he was still Vicki’s cat. When Dewey became ill the town rallied around but this was one fight that Dewey would not win. The stomach tumor Dewey had would eventually take his life. In 2006, at the age of 19, Dewey died while Vicki Myron was holding him so the vet could put him down peacefully. A tribute to Dewey stands outside the library today. Dewey will live on in the hearts of many. This is a wonderful book and will grab on to you and not let go, even after you finish reading it.

WINNERS
Thanks to Anna and the Hachette
Book Group for the 3 audio books
of DEWEY-THE SMALL TOWN LIBRARY
CAT WHO TOUCHED THE WORLD

THE WINNERS ARE:

Jack, Bea, Lulu,
Belle, and Fish's Mom
Susie

Sky and Stachy's Mom
Annie

Gucci's Mom
Vera

THE WINNERS HAVE UNTIL WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, AT 6PM, EST, TO EMAIL ME THEIR NAME AND ADDRESS. THEY HAVE ALL BEEN NOTIFIED BY EMAIL. NEW WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN IF INFORMATION IS NOT ON TIME, PLEASE.

THANK YOU AGAIN TO ANNA AND HACHETTE
AND TO ALL WHO ENTERED

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAYS IN
THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN WHERE THEY ARE LISTED

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