Chi's Sweet Home by Konami Kanata... A Review

If you love cats, this is a Manga series for you! Chi is a very cute little kitten that has lost its way. On an outing with her mother and siblings, Chi becomes separated from them. Realizing that she is lost, she desperately searches and encounters all sorts of scary things out there- like dogs and speeding cars! Exhausted and scared, Chi wanders into a park, and with a thud falls down, tears streaming down her face. This just tugged at my heart! At the same time a very young boy named Yohei falls with a thud right across from Chi, crying. The two look into each other's tear filled eyes and Chi thinks, "You don't know where your home is either, huh?" And then Yohei's mother comes to help Yohei up. Yohei tells his mother that the kitten fell down too, and asks his mother what they should do. Well, how can you leave a cute little abandoned kitten all alone in a park? They bring Chi home...

Although there are complications... the Yamada family lives in a building that doesn't allow cats... And Chi still yearns for her family, especially her mother. But after failing to find a good home for Chi, the Yamadas decide to keep Chi as part of their family, and hide her from the neighbors. This makes for some very entertaining stories, one of which is how the Yamadas solve the problem of Chi showing herself to the neighbors after learning to jump onto the window sill so she can get a look at the whole world!

Chi's Sweet Home is written by Konami Kanata. In volume 1, there are 20 short chapters that see Chi learn to use the litter box, learn what taking a bath is all about, learn what the vet is and other cat like adventures. It is a very sweet, very cute Manga that even Publisher's Weekly picked as one of the best Manga in 2010...

"This manga has got to be the cutest thing 2010 has seen. Kanata gets inside the head of a tiny lost kitten who has a mind of her own which gets her into all sorts of wild adventures. Full color fun and a perfect reminder of why cats are adorable."

There are currently 4 volumes available, with the fifth volume coming this february. Nice features of Chi's Sweet Home is that it is written in a western style, which means you read it like a normal graphic novel. AND, it is in full color! Another nice touch, because most Manga is in black & white.

This is a Manga series that all ages can enjoy. In Japan this Manga is popular with adults as well as children. Chi is a sweet kitten, but she does have spunk and a mind of her own! If you've ever lived with a kitten you will really appreciate this story, but it's a universal story about finding ones place in the world and being part of a family. I really enjoyed reading this first volume of Chi's Sweet Home and look forward to the next volume!

*P.S. I read this as part of The Manga Reading Challenge 2011!

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

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat dresses up for the Holidays!

And the Winners are... Kara, Linda & Debbie! Congrats! And Thank you to Everyone who joined in on the fun!

Here's the book that started it all- Dewey: The Small-Town Library Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. This sweet story will touch your heart. It definitely touched mine. If you are owned by a cat, if you love animals or just love heartwarming tales, I highly recommend opening up the pages of Dewey by Vicki Myron. This is the story of one very special cat, and how he changed the lives of the people of Spencer, Iowa. I highlighted this wonderful book on a Memoir Monday a few weeks back, so check out my review of Dewey if you missed it. You can learn more about Dewey, the book, the cat & the author, at DeweyReadMoreBooks.com. Read an Excerpt! And in the meantime, here's the synopsis from the publisher...

DEWEY is the heartwarming, true story of an abandoned kitten who went on to live an extraordinary life, inspiring a struggling single mother, transforming a sleepy library and the inhabitants of its depressed Iowa farm town, and ultimately capturing the hearts of animal lovers around the world.

Vicki Myron was a single mom who, after surviving the loss of her family farm and an abusive husband, went back to school and became a librarian (and her family’s first college graduate!). As the director of the Spencer (Iowa) Public Library, her biggest challenge was to raise the spirits of her beloved library’s patrons, the residents of an out-of-the way town deeply mired in the farm crisis of the 1980s. Her solution came in the unlikeliest of places when Vicki found a tiny, bedraggled kitten almost frozen to death in the library’s night drop box. Recognizing the extraordinary strength and uniqueness of this kitten, Vicki received approval from the library board to adopt him as Spencer’s resident library cat. From that moment on, her life – and the town of Spencer – would change forever.

Dewey, as the townspeople named the kitten, grew into a strutting, affable library cat whose antics kept patrons in stitches and whose sixth sense about those in need created hundreds of deep and loving friendships. As his fame grew, people drove hundreds of miles to meet Dewey, and he even ended up the subject of a hit documentary in Japan! Through it all, Dewey remained a loyal companion, a beacon of hope not just for Vicki Myron, but for the entire town of Spencer as it slowly pulled itself up from the worst financial crisis in its long history.

When Dewey died in 2006 at the age of 19, his obituary appeared in over 250 newspapers, including the New York Times, USA Today and the Des Moines Register, and was announced on the national television evening news.

It feels like Dewey week here at Chick with Books! We started the week with a great giveaway for Dewey's Nine Lives, the book that Vicki wrote after this book. If you haven't read Dewey: The Small-Town Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron yet, here's your chance to win a copy! Courtesy of Hachette Book Group I have 3 copies of this charming book to give away! It's the new trade paperback edition of Dewey with a special Holiday cover! Here's how to enter...

To Enter this Giveaway...

*Leave me a comment with your email address! That's it!

This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only (No PO boxes). The book will be shipped to the winner directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on October 23rd. I will randomly pick the winner the next day and email them! Good Luck

Dewey's Nine Lives by Vicki Myron... A Review

The Legacy of Dewey The Small Town Library Cat...

A few weeks ago on Memoir Monday I shared a book about Dewey, the little kitten that someone threw away in a book deposit on one of the coldest days of the year in a small mid western town in Iowa. (Here's the LINK for the review if you missed it!) That book, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron was read by millions of animal lovers, and if you read it you know how touching the story was. Vicki toured the country to promote her book about Dewey, and in the course of that book tour, people shared their own stories with Vicki, the stories about the cats that they had shared their lives with... Vicki has taken some of those stories and added some new Dewey stories to bring us another wonderful testament to how the love of animals can make our lives better in her new book, Dewey's Nine Lives. Here's the blurb from the publisher...

"Dewey's Nine Lives is compromised of nine inspiring, funny and heartwarming stories about cats told from the perspective of "Dewey's Mom", librarian Vicki Myron. The amazing felines in this book include Dewey, of course, whose further never-before-told adventures and amazing legacy are chronicled, but several others whom Vicki found out about when their owners reached out to her. Vicki learned, through extensive interviews and story sharing, what made these cats special, and how they fit into Dewey's community of perseverance and love. From a divorced mother in Alaska who saved a drowning kitten on Christmas Eve to a post-traumatic-stress disorder-suffering veteran whose heart was opened by his long relationship with a rescued cat, these Dewey-style stories will inspire reades to laugh, cry, and, most important, believe in the magic of animals to touch individual lives."

In the same wonderful way Vicki shared her story of Dewey in her first book, animal lovers, and cat lovers in particular, will enjoy reading Dewey's Nine Lives. I know I did! Her writing style is easy going and relaxing. These are heartfelt stories that will have you hugging your furry friend. And like the people that shared their stories with Vicki along the way, the story of Dewey made me think of and be thankful for the special furry babies I've shared my life with.

There is also a I Believe in "Dewey's Magic" story contest, where you can submit a letter to Vicki telling her about a cat that has inspired you. The winner of the contest will have their story told in the paperback version of Dewey's Nine Lives. You can find all the details about the contest and how to enter at Penguin Books. The book will be available from your local bookstores starting Oct. 12th!

*I want to thank Dutton Publishing for sending along a review copy! Thank you!

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

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

A small kitten is thrown away in a book deposit on one of the coldest nights of the year in a mid western town in Iowa and is found the next morning by the library director Vicky Myron. With a great will to live that small kitten hobbled on frostbitten paws to thank Vicki for his rescue and in doing so won her heart and all the hearts of that small town called Spencer. Dewey, as he would be officially named later on by the town, wasn't just any cat- he was truly special. And in this charming book we come to find out what it's like to live in a small farming community as well as how Dewey captured the hearts of not just Spencer, but people all over the world.

In telling the story of Dewey, Vicki also tells us her story and how she was saved in part by the love she shared with him. It's a story of hope and courage. And quoting Vicki from her book:

"The most important thing is having someone there to scoop you up, to hold you tight, and to tell you everything is all right." (and this is exactly what Dewey did for everyone who met him).

In the day where there are so many "animal" stories out there, this story is sure to win the affection of many. My only warning before reading this book is that is interspersed with Vicki's story, which is interesting, but if someone is expecting the book to be wholly about Dewey they may get impatient with the story in between. I think Vicki's story is important as it shows us that even though Dewey is a charming guy, his real job was to bring people like Vicki at least a small amount of happiness in what otherwise would be trying times.

*The Publisher, Hachette Books, are gearing up for the Holidays with a special release of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat! Check back to see how Chick with Books is celebrating!

*Hey, I'm sharing this with Cym Lowell's Book Review Party!