About Because of Winn-Dixie
The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket—and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie, the preacher tells Opal ten things about her absent mother, one for each year Opal has been alive. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of WAR AND PEACE. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, an ex-con who sets the animals in his pet shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar.
Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship—and forgiveness—can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.
Kate DiCamillo’s beloved, best-selling debut novel is now available in a paperback digest edition.
Kate DiCamillo’s first published novel, like Winn-Dixie himself, immediately proved to be a keeper—a New York Times bestseller, a Newbery Honor winner, the inspiration for a popular film, and most especially, a cherished classic that touches the hearts of readers of all ages. It’s now available in a paperback digest format certain to bring this tale’s magic to an even wider circle of fans.
Detail
Complete Title: Because of Winn-Dixie
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number of Pages: 182
Publication Time: August 6, 2001
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 0763616052
ISBN13: 9780763616052
About Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo, the newly named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2014–2015, says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” Born in Philadelphia, the author lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.
Kate DiCamillo’s own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie – her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. “After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls,” she says. “I was stunned. And very, very happy.”
Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist. Since then, the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, including two comical early-chapter-book series – Mercy Watson, which stars a “porcine wonder” with an obsession for buttered toast, and Bink & Gollie, which celebrates the tall and short of a marvelous friendship – as well as a luminous holiday picture book, Great Joy.
Her latest novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, won the 2014 Newbery Medal. It was released in fall 2013 to great acclaim, including five starred reviews, and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Flora & Ulysses is a laugh-out-loud story filled with eccentric, endearing characters and featuring an exciting new format – a novel interspersed with comic-style graphic sequences and full-page illustrations, all rendered in black and white by up-and-coming artist K. G. Campbell. It was a 2013 Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner and was chosen by Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Common Sense Media as a Best Book of the Year.
Reviews Because of Winn-Dixie
Whoooeee! Smiliest dog ever! Ten years old India Opal and her father the Preacher move to small town Naomi to start anew. Opal left all her friends behind and is all alone in the world, that is, unt…
Federico DN
[Book #1 for my grad school Children’s Lit class]…
Zoë
India Opal and her father, the preacher, have moved from Watley to Naomi, Florida. Opal had to leave all her friends behind and she’s adapting to living in a new place. Her mother has abandoned her…
Mischenko
Why I chose to listen to this audiobook:1. after reading and enjoying four other books by Kate DiCamillo, I thought that I had better check out her most well-known work to date;2. my free audiobook ho…
Debbie W.
I think this is the year that I have discovered young adult and middle grade fiction as a genre full of quality books. Always looking for wholesome books for my kids, I saw this book on a few friends’…
Brina
Because of Winn-Dixie is such a beautiful and enchanting book. I loved reading this with my daughter. I am glad she was a little bit older when we read it (I think she was about 8) as it may have been…
Deanna
Opal Buloni goes to the Winn-Dixie store, and comes home with a big scraggly dog she claimed on impulse. Because of this dog, now named Winn-Dixie, she meets her new neighbors in the Florida town she…
Jackie “the Librarian”
A children’s book I read for a Challenge and what a treat it was! Beautifully written, delightful characters, a bittersweet story. No wonder it won awards.The Winn-Dixie of the title is big sook of a…
Phrynne
This is a heart-warming, feel-good, simply sweet Southern style tale of true friendship and love. It truly depicts the meaning of, “the good ol’ days.” It shows you that certain people and/or pe…