For Hannah, Nathan, and Ryan
�V. M.
For Lydia and Isaac
�B. W.
Copyright
Copyright � 2009 by Vicki Myron � All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. � Little, Brown Books for Young Readers � Hachette Book Group � 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 � Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com, www.twitter.com/littlebrown � Little, Brown Books for Young Readers is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. � The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc. First eBook Edition: September 2009 � ISBN: 978-0-316-08929-6
Contents
Copyright
Begin Reading
About the Authors
Every night, people left books in the return box of the library in the small town of Spencer, Iowa. Funny books, big books, truck books, pig books�they left them all.
But one night,
on the coldest night of the year,
someone left a strange surprise�
A tiny kitten.
When Vicki the librarian found him the next morning, the kitten was cold and scared and very, very dirty. Vicki took one look and decided to give him a warm bath. The kitten went into the sink brown and crying, but he came out orange and purring.
�I�m going to keep you,� said Vicki, who already loved him.
�We�ll name you Dewey Readmore Books. You can live here and be our library cat.�
But Dewey had no idea what it meant to be a library cat. So he did what all kittens do�he played.
He lounged on the newspaper�
Rode the book cart�
And knocked pens to the floor.
He goofed around with Marty Mouse�
Snooped in every open drawer�
And always found at least one rubber band.
But what Dewey loved most of all was people.
Tall ones. Round ones. Quiet ones. Loud ones. The
�Look, Nathan,� said his mommy.
Nathan bent down and said, �Hi, Hooey Doowey Yooks.�
�No,� said his sister, Hannah, �it�s Dewey Readmore Books!�
Dewey squirmed. The boy was petting him in the wrong
direction! Dewey loved to be petted, but he
Dewey was licking his fur back into place when he heard a strange noise.
�Waaaa!�
Dewey�s ears perked up. He looked around.
�Waaaaaaaa!�
�Waaaaaaaaaaaa!�
Dewey sprang to attention and crept
Surprise!
The little people, Dewey discovered, came in tiny sizes too!
And they loved to giggle.
And grab.
And pull.
And coo.
A few days later, Dewey went exploring and discovered, in a secret room, the most exciting thing he had ever seen. Children�s Story Hour!
Someone shouted:
�There�s a cat in the library!�
Dewey froze.
It was quiet for one minute.
Then everything went wild!
And the next thing Dewey knew, he was being carried upside-down.
Late that night, Dewey talked to his friend Marty Mouse.
Marty Mouse didn�t say anything.
The next morning, when the first people arrived, Dewey was waiting to greet them right by the front door.
All morning, Dewey acted like a library cat. He read with the mommies and grandmas�
He helped the daddies work�
He even shelved books with the library clerk.
When he saw little Nathan, he turned a circle and a half so the
boy could pet his back from his head down to his tail�the
�I�m glad we�re friends, De-woo-ley,� Nathan said.
Dewey smiled at that.
By lunchtime Dewey was worn out.
So he found a good box.
First he put his front paws inside, then his belly.
He squished his back end down,
wiggled arounduntil he was all the way in�
and closed his eyes.
�There�s an orange muffin in the library,� a girl giggled.
But just as Dewey was about to drift off into sweet kitten dreams, he heard a heavy sigh. His eyes popped open, and he saw a girl on the other side of the library.
A sad little girl reading very quietly all by herself.
He climbed up close and stared at her. She looked the other way.
He sniffed her hand. She wouldn�t play.
He knocked her mittens to the floor. She let them stay.
Then he saw her jacket and had his best idea yet�.
The girl stared at Dewey.
�You look like a fuzzy hotdog in a purple bun,� she said.
And then she surprised him.
She laughed right out loud.
�I love you, Dewey Readmore Books,� the girl whispered, as Dewey nestled into her lap and began to purr.
No, it felt better than great.
It felt�
TIM HYNDS
Vicki Myron was born on a farm fifteen miles from Spencer, Iowa. At the age of thirty-four, she graduated summa cum laude from Mankato State University and has a master's degree from Emporia State University. She worked at the Spencer Public Library for twenty-five years, the last twenty as director. She lives in Spencer, Iowa.
Bret Witter has collaborated with Vicki Myron since 2006 and has enjoyed every minute. Raised in North Alabama, he currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife and two children, Lydia and Isaac.
Steve James studied traditional painting techniques at Brigham Young University and has worked in the entertainment industry as an illustrator and concept artist. He now lives in Lehi, Utah, with his wife and crazy cat.