I'm Reading a Book...About a Cat.

Meet Dewey!
I recently picked up a copy of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. Let me start out by saying, even if you are not a cat person, you will be drawn in by this story.

Ms. Myron, the Library Director at the Spencer Public Library in Spencer, Iowa arrived to the library one very cold winter morning to discover that someone had placed a small kitten in the library return box. You can imagine the horror of seeing such a small animal practically frozen to death, probably spending the entire night in a metal container.

Ms. Myron and her staff worked quickly to warm the cat, bathe him, and bring him back to life. What happened after his frostbitten legs finally healed? The cat became not only a resident of the library for many years, but a friend to all of the library visitors and something of a worldwide sensation to cat lovers around the globe.

They named him Dewey after the Dewey Decimal System but his full name became Dewey Readmore Books {how clever}. And clever he was. He loved people. He greeted all the library visitors every morning. He had his routines. He like to attend the staff meetings. He was a very, very, fussy eater. And he was particularly good with children, who were wild for Dewey. One child in particular had a severe disability and every time she visited the library Dewey would spend time sitting in her lap. He made her squeal with delight -- and no one had ever heard her make a peep before she met Dewey!

The other character in this story is the town of Spencer. Having attended college at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa I immediately noticed Ms. Myron's Iowan pride. She talks with such love for her hometown and the state of Iowa. Here's an excerpt:

"That's another of Spencer's unique and valuable assets: its people. We are good, solid, hardworking midwesterners. We are proud but humble. We don't brag. We believe your worth is measured by the respect of your neighbors, and there is no place we'd rather be than with those neighbors in Spencer, Iowa. We are woven not just into this land, which our families have worked for generations, but to one another. And a bright shining thread, popping up in a hundred places in that tapestry, is Dewey."

Interestingly, there is an update to the Dewey saga, who passed away in late 2006. Ms. Myron is now the proud owner of another cat named, appropriately, Page. You can read the story here in USA Today.

Vicki Myron and Page from usatoday.com

Of course, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to post a few recent pictures of my own cats, Cookie and Doughie. They are the center of our household and full of personality. I love being their Mom!

Cookie playing hide and seek
{of course, I opened the drawer but she still thinks she's hiding from me.}

Doughie inside her favorite toy -- a Whole Foods shopping bag.