Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

A big claim to be sure, but in fact, people did come from all over the U.S. and even from countries as far away as Japan to meet this remarkable orange cat in Spencer, Iowa. This is not only the story of a amazing cat, but also a semi-autobiography of the library's director and author of the book, Vicki Myron. Additionally, we learn about the town of Spencer, and its economic trials and tribulations, as family farms became an endangered species.
As a young kitten, Dewey Readmore Books (his full name) was found in the book drop-box one morning after a night of sub-freezing temperatures, with frost-bitten feet that required weeks of recovery. But he quickly took possession of the library, won the hearts of staff and patrons, and seemed intuitively to know who needed a cat on their lap at any given hour. He had a bad habit of eating rubber bands and so they were banned from the library. He roamed the light fixtures high overhead at will. He greeted people at the door. He excited the children of all ages and even some oldsters. This is an absolutely touching story about the amazing impact that one animal can have on individual lives and the community as a whole.

NEWS UPDATE: There's an upcoming picture book and maybe even a movie (supposedly starring Meryl Streep --man she's busy). Here's the article in Publisher's Weekly.

The Devil in the White City

Thanks to my friends Pete and Betsy (formerly of Seattle, and now in Boise), I got to read this book by Erik Larson right before going to my library conference in Chicago. It interweaves the two stories of the creation of the Columbian Exposition, aka the 1893 World's Fair, in Chicago (see photo at right) and the story of a serial killer operating in the area at the same time. The book opens with two quotes:
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood," spoken by Daniel Burnham, Director of Works for the Exposition.
And this from the confession of H.H.Holmes, "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing."

Although I expected the opposite, I found the account of building the World's Fair infinitely more interesting. Neither of these tales is fictionalized; both are based on documentary evidence and detailed research. I have to say that my visit to Chicago was enormously enriched by reading this book, which alerted me to the seminal role that Chicago played in American architecture. It was the home of the first skyscrapers--by ten years! Many of the major architectural styles, such as modernism, received critical impetus from the work of local architects. Everyone knows that Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright also started their careers here. Chicago was celebrating the 100th anniversary of Burnham's design for the whole city while I was there and so posters of him, as well as books about him, and about the Exposition, were abundant at the Architecture Foundation's gift shop. I also found there a book of postcard with paintings and archival photographs of the "White City" and I have to say that my major criticism of the book is that more of these were not included in the book. Chicago's architecture is truly monumental and it's definitely worth taking either the land or water tour sponsored by the Architecture Foundation next time you go. Oh, and read the book, too, so you can learn about how the first Ferris Wheel almost didn't get created, or why the Exposition was called the White City, or how a serial killer almost got away unnoticed.