Who can resist a children’s book about a cat? And a cat Inspector, how can you go wrong? Find out what I thought about Kristen Heimerl’s book Inspector Dewey below!
Inspector Dewey
Title: Inspector Dewey
Author: Kristen Heimerl
Publisher:
Format: Paperback,
Source: Received in exchange from iRead Book Tours in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis
My name is Dewey–Inspector Dewey.
I live in the big green house on Hampshire Avenue with my family: Thumper, Lily, and Anna. I am the Big Cat—responsible for keeping everyone safe and in order. I do this quite well, in spite of the fact that managing my family is like, well, herding cats!
Mostly our life is peaceful. But one night it wasn’t. That was the night the bad guy showed up on our block. Of course, I knew exactly how to outsmart the outlaw, but—miserable mullet!—would Anna and the police understand my instructions?
To find out how the adventure ended, you’ll have to read my book. But I’ll give you a hint: there’s a reason I’m called Inspector Dewey.
Fifty percent of the profits from the sale of this book will fund veterinary care for pets whose families are in financial need, so that the animals can remain in their homes and out of the shelter system.
BECAUSE PETS BELONG WITH THEIR PEOPLE™
To learn more, visit threenorwegians.com
Buy the book: Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble
About the Author
Kristen Heimerl
Marketing Officer, Strategy Expert, Innovator and Brand Builder, Kristen’s business career spans 20+ years serving the biggest brands in industry and the biggest hearts of start-ups and entrepreneurs. Kristen revels in bringing compelling products and services to life and helping leaders and individuals with big dreams realize their big goals.
Kristen’s life joys include her 2+ year obsession creating the most beautiful self-published picture book possible, the breathtaking forests and lakes of her Minnesota birthplace, the family that really does love her no matter what, and her three magnificent Norwegian Forest Cats who together, with Kristen, helped catch the bad guy on their block that inspired her upcoming book (stake out and high speed chase included!)
She holds a master of science in eCommerce from Carnegie Mellon University, an MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, and a BA from the University of St. Thomas. As the great transformer in her life, Kristen supports others’ education and literacy as an adjunct professor of business and strategy and, more recently, through her children’s book, Inspector Dewey (Available September 2015).
Kristen’s site for her work “Inspector Dewey” will be premiering on May 31st, 2015. In addition, you can read more about Kristen’s work at threenorwegians.com, also live on May 31st.
Connect with Kristen: Website ~ Facebook Author ~ Facebook Inspector Dewey
Guest Post:
My Book Project: Now This Is Joy—Connecting by Kristen Heimerl
The most amazing thing happened after I became a children’s book author: I became approachable. Of course, inside I always knew I was nothing but niceness: gentle, kind-hearted, and raised on Disney principles: “If you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all.”
But then there was this body of mine: tall and thin and blonde with a decidedly British-looking face and demeanor. You know the type: thin lips, pointy features, formal body carriage. Add introverted and stylish on top of that, and it’s no wonder that performance reviews repeatedly pointed out my unapproachability and intimidation factor.
I didn’t take my parents’ advice that “The onus is on you to make others feel comfortable” to heart until after about the third performance-improvement suggestion. Then I became a buffoon, but that’s another story. It worked—everyone became comfortable around me while my sapped-out introverted self walked away exhausted, needing a gargantuan nap!
The book changed everything. Perhaps it’s because I carry it with me to reveal it only when the appropriate timing arises, like a cat proudly delivering the gift of a dead mouse to its owner. Like last week when I stopped by The Antique Peddlers in Indian Hill to take a peek around. I found an adorable red juice-glass set and handed over my author calling card to the woman working the desk who dialed the dealer for a price.
She commented immediately, “What do you do?” SHAZAM! “Why, I’m an author and those are illustrations from my new children’s book,Inspector Dewey. Want to see?” Like a flash I was out the door and in my car for the book. What happened next was priceless—a human connectivity so real, so joyful it happens only when two beings collide on something they both love.
She gingerly fingered through each page, oohing and ahhing as I observed, increasingly expanding in size. Her delight captured the attention of two other women, who joined in the gaiety. I shared my kooky plans for kiddie events and the jollity that went into creating Dewey’s Detective Kit of super-sleuth activities. And they shared their best story-time practices with me so that I could bring them to life in schools.
It was a magical moment for me. I wasn’t Kristen the body; I was Kristen the heart connecting with other human hearts. It took four decades and the creation of a children’s book to get to this place consistently and effortlessly. I’m so glad I did. There’s a lot of really wonderful hearts that I still need to meet.
My Review:
As I mentioned in the introduction, how can you go wrong with a book that is about a cat, an inspector cat at that?! I thought this book was really cute and really enjoyed reading about Inspector Dewey. The book is definitely appropriate for school aged children. It can be read to those who are younger, but there are some “larger” words that the younger children won’t understand. The writing was fantastic, and I enjoyed that there were “larger” words included- there are only so many times you can read children’s books with 4 letter words before getting tired of them! The entire book was adorable and had a great story line. It was a lot of fun to learn about Inspector Dewey and his family and why he has earned himself the title of Inspector. You will definitely want to read this book again after you have put it down the first time.
The illustrations in this book were fantastic- there was a lot of colour and each of the cats was not only their own colour, but seemed to have their own personalities which could be “seen” through the illustrations. The illustrations are very dream like which adds to the atmosphere of the book since it does take place at night.
Giveaway:
Prizes:
1) 1 of 10 copies of Inspector Dewey (International) or
2) 1 of (4) $20 Amazon gift cards (international) or
3) 5 books to the literacy non profit, library or school of your choice (USA only) or
4) $100 payable for vet visit for family/pet in need (USA only)
Thank you to
for allowing me to be part of this tour!
Book Loving Hippo 
Yea! I’m so pleased that you enjoyed Inspector Dewey! Thank you so much for taking the time to read it and share your thoughts. I can’t begin to share how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness and kind words!