Because of Winn-Dixie was written by Kate DiCamillo. This book was a 2001 Newbery Honor book. It won many other awards such as ALA Notable Children's Book, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon, New York Public Library 100 Books for Reading and Sharing, Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner, and Publishers Weekly Best book of the Year to name a few of the many honors. The author has written other books such as The Tiger Rising (2001), The Tale of Despereaux (2003), and the The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006).
This book is about a ten-year old girl named Opal who lives with her father who serves as a preacher. Her mother had left when Opal was three years old. Opal and her father had recently moved to Naomi, Florida. Opal was struggling with the absence of her mother, a new town, and no friends. One day while picking up something at the grocery store, Opal ran across a dog inside the Winn-Dixie. By looking at the dog, one could easily tell the dog was a stray with his matted fur, yellow teeth, and thin body. Opal fell in love with the dog and took it home. She persuaded the preacher-her dad to let her keep the dog by calling the dog a "less fortunate." Her dog let her keep the dog which she named Winn-Dixie.
Opal's life begins to change in wonderful ways, which she thought it was because she had Winn-Dixie. Her father who never talks about her mother told her ten things about her mother. She then made friends with Mrs. Franny the librarian, Amanda the pinch-faced girl about her age, and Gloria Dump an elderly woman that is often called a witch by children in the neighborhood. Opal also got a job sweeping floors at a pet store to help her pay for a dog collar and leash for Winn-Dixie. There she became friends with Otis, a musician that went to prison for playing music in the streets.
She united all her friends together at a party at Mrs. Dump's house where they served egg salad sandwiches and pickles. The party was moved indoors after a sudden thunderstorm. Opal discovered that Winn-Dixie who is scared of storms was missing. Opal and her father searched for Winn-Dixie. Opal was devastated at the idea that he was gone forever. After looking for a long time, they returned to the party to find Winn-Dixie there. Opal returned to the party and a happier life with her dog, friends, and father.
After reading this book, I watched the movie based on the book. I would advise to read the book before watching the movie. The book explains in more depth about the characters and their struggles. The movie strayed from the book adding more humorous events to entertain the audience such as the episodes with the crabby neighbor. The movie changed some events for no particular reason like when Winn Dixie disappeared at the party and her dad helped find him. In the book, the dad was at the party and in the movie he was at home. The book described Winn-Dixie as being a small, thin, and matted hair dog. In the movie, the dog was quite large and didn't look thin and was quite cute. Overall, the movie was entertaining and stuck to the basic plot of the story. I would recommend the book and movie.
The book and movie reminded me of the special bond that I have had with pets. It made me think of my cat, Midnight, that I had for thirteen years. It also reminded me of my current dog, Sassy. In the book, Winn-Dixie went everywhere with Opal- even church! Sassy is my sidekick who goes in stores, on tractors, boats, and four-wheelers!
What I liked about this book is that students would be able to relate to Opal for being a child of a single parent. They may also relate to the special relationships she had with older people and her dog. It also deals with issues such as prison, war, and alcohol.
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