Audiobook Review: "Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World" Audiobook

How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.

Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.

As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.

I'm not a cat person. I love dogs (especially pugs!). I've never been a cat person my entire life. My fiance has a cat, and while I can stand her, honestly I would much rather prefer another dog. However after listening to this audio book, I would have liked to have met this cat, Dewey Readmore Books. On a recent road trip, my fiance and I listened to this book on CD and thoroughly enjoyed it. It quickly became a must listen for both of us. With fiance being a cat person and me being a library person, this story had the best of both worlds. We enjoyed hearing about Dewey's life and how he touched not only the author and the town, but the entire world as well. Fiance even cried at the end of the story. It was a good thing I was the one driving! My only qualm was that it was an abridged book which is apparently the only version the audio book comes in. While the story flowed very easily, I wonder what we had missed by not actually reading the book. That being said, we were very impressed with Dewey's story and we both wish we had been able to have met him. If you are looking for a good book to listen to on at trip this summer, be sure to grab this CD.

Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Audio CD is published by Hachette Audio (2008)