一个动物会有多大影响力？一只猫能感动多少人？一只遭遗弃的小猫，如何能改变一个小图书馆，拯救一个典型的美国小镇，最终闻名世界？如果没听说衣阿华州斯潘塞镇图书馆小猫杜威的故事，也许根本无从回答。

小猫杜威的故事，说来好似极其不可能。

那年最冷的一个晚上，小猫杜威出生只有几周，就被丢进斯潘塞图书馆的还书箱。图书馆馆长薇奇·麦仑是个单身妈妈，有过一个酒鬼丈夫，遭受着失去家庭农场和罹患乳腺癌的痛苦，但仍然坚强地生活着。第二天早晨，她发现了小猫杜威。

小猫杜威获救后勉强撑起一瘸一拐的腿，以充满感激和温爱的姿势，磨蹭每一只抚摸它的手，赢得了薇奇的心，也赢得了图书馆所有人的心。

在随后的十九年里，小猫杜威用热情、温暖、谦虚，和敏锐的第六感（小猫杜威总是知道谁最需要它），感动和吸引着小镇居民。

小猫杜威的名气，从一个小镇传到另一个小镇，从一个国家到另一个国家，最终闻名世界。小猫杜威不再只是一个朋友，它成为了人们的骄傲，成了逐渐从有史以来最大的危机中恢复过来的小镇的骄傲。

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.

Introduction: Welcome to Iowa

Chapter 1: The Coldest Morning

Chapter 2: A Perfect Addition

Chapter 3: Dewey Readmore Books

Chapter 4: A Day in the Library

Chapter 5: Catnip and Rubber Bands

Chapter 6: Moneta

Chapter 7: Grand Avenue

Chapter 8: A Cat's Best Friends

Chapter 9: Dewey and Jodi

Chapter 10: A Long Way from Home

Chapter 11: Hide-and-Seek

Chapter 12: Christmas

Chapter 13: A Great Library

Chapter 14: Dewey's Great Escape

Chapter 15: Spencer's Favorite Cat

Chapter 16: Iowa's Famous Library Cat

Chapter 17: Dewey in the Modern World

Chapter 18: Puss in Books

Chapter 19: The World's Worst Eater

Chapter 20: Dewey's New Friends

Chapter 21: What Makes Us Special?

Chapter 22: Dewey Goes to Japan

Chapter 23: Memories of Mom

Chapter 24: Dewey's Diet

Chapter 25: The Meeting

Chapter 26: Dewey's Love

Chapter 27: Loving Dewey

Epilogue: Last Thoughts from Iowa

Acknowledgments