Feline Fun - Dewey the Library Cat

I had seen this book in the shops and been interested but never bought it.  Then I saw my mum had bought it. It was duly borrowed.  I always enter into these kind of things with a heavy heart.  I am completely emotional when it comes to a tale of an animal.  We pretty much know how the story of a pet's life will pan out at the end.  I always hope when I begin reading a book such as this that the animal is still going strong.  Maybe heading into a comfortable old age but still with us.  They rarely are :-(

As isn't so rare the animal in question didn't have a good start in life.  The book opens with him nearly freezing to death.  The story from then on is much more cheery.  The author obviously invested a lot in the cat and it was much more than a pet.  She thinks he's something special.  Don't all of us pet owners believe ours has that something extra?  I'll admit this cat does seem to have a fantastic personality.  He's King of his domain.  It does upset me that he was de-clawed.  I'm afraid I hold with the European view that this is an unnecessary and cruel.  It does seem to be prevalant in the US though.  A cat is much more confident when it's intact.

The book contains a few chapters on Ohio and I have to say the author really sells it well.  It sounds like a beautiful place to be around harvest time.  These chapters help flesh out the book to give a more rounded view of the library and it's customers that are Dewey's world.  There is no doubt that this little cat brought something extra into the lives of many of the library's customers.  I can't think of any other public buildings where a cat would be tolerated, let alone welcomed. 

This is a quick read that I got through in a couple of sittings.  It made me realise, yet again, how much of an asset to life a pet can be.  For me, my cat makes my house a home.

3.5 pawprints out of 5.