Dewey: The True Story of a World-famous Library Cat by Vicki Myron and Brett Witter
| Dewey: The True Story of a World-famous Library Cat by Vicki Myron and Brett Witter | |
|
| |
| Category: Confident Readers | |
| |
Reviewer: Jo Heffer
 | |
| Summary: Vicki Myron could never have guessed how life was going to change one cold winter morning when she walked into the library she ran in the town of Spencer, Iowa. There was the most unusual package in the book drop - a small dirty bedraggled kitten who was about to become Dewey, the world famous library cat. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 224 | Date: April 2010 |
| Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 978-1847388445 | |
|
Share on: | |
|
| |
I have just finished reading 'Dewey: The true story of a world famous library cat' with my seven-year-old daughter. It is an adaptation for younger readers of Vicki Myron’s bestseller 'Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World'. With just over 200 pages, the book is just the right length for young but proficient readers or for taking turns reading between parent and child.
This heart-warming book tells the wonderful true story of a cat called Dewey. His beginnings were very humble and his life could quite probably have been quite short if it had not been for a fortuitous event that occurred one cold winter morning. Vicki Myron, the chief librarian at Spencer Library in Iowa, heard some very strange noises coming from the book drop box that borrowers used in order to return their books when the library was closed. On opening the box she discovered a small, dirty, shivering kitten and her heart melted. As a consequence, the kitten, which was soon to be named Dewey, was adopted and became the official library cat.
This wonderful book chronicles Dewey’s life in the library and how he charmed everyone that he met. He soon becomes part of everyday library life and starts attending children's story sessions, board meetings and virtually everything else that takes place in the library. He is loved and cared for by all the librarians as well as the patrons of the library. Before long, he seems to develop a sense of whose lap he should seek out and he particularly starts to bond with the young and old.
It is most entertaining to read about all of Dewey’s exploits especially times when he manages to climb up on to the very high lights in the library or the time when he makes a bid for freedom that almost goes horribly wrong. Vicki Myron tells it all with a genuine warmth and love for Dewey that is completely infectious and one cannot help but end up loving him too. Of course, this is the story of Dewey’s life and towards the end he gets terribly old and poorly meaning that Vicki finally has to take him to the vet’s and make that most difficult of decisions. I could see that this was coming and was worried about how my sensitive daughter was going to cope with this. Well. To be honest, we both shed a few tears, but it was dealt with very well focusing more on Dewey’s wonderful legacy than on the sadness of his passing.
Mainly, this book will make young readers want to smile as they are reading though especially as it seems that Dewey really was quite a character with a strong personality. There are also some gorgeous photographs in the middle of the book with some very entertaining captions. These are all quite adorable. The book is also divided into short readable chapters making it ideal for the younger reader. These have some quite amusing titles too often with a play on the name Dewey; ‘We can dew it!’ is one such example.
Overall this is a wonderful book for young readers telling of a very special relationship between one cat and an entire community. It is definitely well worth reading.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
If this book appeals, young readers may also like to take a look at Christmas Chaos for the Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong, another book which features some interesting pets.
Please share on: 
Facebook, 
Twitter and
Instagram
You can read more book reviews or buy Dewey: The True Story of a World-famous Library Cat by Vicki Myron and Brett Witter at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Dewey: The True Story of a World-famous Library Cat by Vicki Myron and Brett Witter at Amazon.com.
Comments
Like to comment on this review?
Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.
