Advertisement And if you like books, it would stand to reason you have a good relationship with your library.
At your library, you can get all sorts of things: the latest best seller, a dictionary, books that explain how to remodel your home, feed a giraffe or diaper a baby. You might even find music, movies and equipment on which to play them.
And at some libraries, you can get a quick snuggle.
In the new book “Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World” by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter (c.2008, Grand Central Publishing $19.99, 277 pages), you’ll read about a cat who adopted a town, or the other way around.
On a freezing January morning, Vicki Myron and one of her co-workers discovered an interloper in the Spencer, Iowa, Library drop box: a tiny, half-frozen 8-week-old kitten with frostbitten paws. Thinking he was gray, they pulled the kitten from the metal box and warmed him in water, where they discovered his rich orange color and his steady personality. The kitten had no reason to trust, but he did.
As the library’s director, Myron petitioned the board to allow the kitten, named Dewey, to live at the library. After a few nervous patrons with allergies were reassured, Dewey found himself a home.
He was a town secret at first, but as library visitors got to know Dewey, the cat quickly made friends. He was a regular during story hour and always chose a different child to sit with during the read-aloud. Dewey attended all meetings in the library’s meeting room. He seemed to have some sort of time-clock and, at 9 a.m. sharp, went to the library’s front door to greet earlybird readers.
And because the town fell in love with Dewey, it was inevitable the rest of the world would soon find out about the wonderful, beautiful cat who seemed to understand all conversation and who was a natural in front of the camera. Soon, national media began to swarm to Iowa in search of Dewey. Fans arrived by car and bus. A movie company from Japan came to film the feline.
But pet owners, as Myron is quick to point out, always know that the price for loving an animal is to outlive it. And Dewey had health issues …
Part candid memoir, part fierce love story to small-town living and part biography to a beloved cat, “Dewey” is a book any pet owner will cherish. From the first pages (which will hurt animal lovers to the quick) to the final two chapters (a three-hanky read, to be sure), Myron and Witter weave their tale with the same gentleness that Dewey used as he wove around patrons’ ankles.
Do I need to say this? I loved it all.
If you were mad for “Marley,” put that book away. “Dewey” is the Marley of this year and the perfect book for anybody who adores animals.
Terri Schlichenmeyer lives in the La Crosse area and reviews books as The Bookworm. Send her messages via realtime@lacrossetribune.com.
