Week 4: Because of Winn-Dixie

Book Cover Image:

Book Summary:

This is a book catering to grades 1 through 5. It is about a 10 year old girl named, Opal. She and her preacher father are on their own and have to move from town to town every few years because he is a preacher. Her mom left them when Opal was little and sometimes she gets a little lonely. One day she finds and adopts a stray dog and names him Winn-Dixie, since that is the store in which she found him. Throughout the book, Opal is finding misfits, just like her and Winn-Dixie, to befriend. She ends up bringing a whole community together just by trying to appreciate everyone and their individuality.

APA Reference:

DiCamillo, K. (2000). Because of Winn-Dixie. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

My Impressions:

I did like this book for its sweet message of accepting others for who they are. Winn-Dixie is a stray dog that looks like one but Opal takes him in and through that relationship, is able to extend her love to others in the community who are not always appreciated. She befriends an ex-convict, an old lady who runs a private library, and a “witch-like” lady that all the local children are afraid of. She is not as comfortable with children her own age probably because she has had to grow up quicker than most. She has had to move many times and has not been able to develop close relationships with classmates. There are some realistic and unrealistic elements in this book that will probably entertain many elementary aged children. For example, one day Opal goes into the pet shop and notices the storekeeper is playing his guitar to all the pets. However, none of them are in cages and none of them are trying to escape. That of course, is not realistic but I think many younger readers will enjoy that and will keep reading to see what other surprises are in store for them. It is a mainly light-hearted book with a few more serious issues but overall, most children in elementary school would enjoy.

  

Professional Review:

"My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog"--so begins this exquisitely crafted first novel. Each chapter possesses an are of its own and reads almost like a short story in its completeness; yet the chapters add up to more than the sum of their parts. Opal, the 10-year-old narrator, will win readers over just as quickly as the stray she names Winn-Dixie wins her over. Abandoned by her mother when she was three years old, Opal gains the courage to ask her father about her mother through the love she gains from her new pet. True to its title, the story develops as her furry companion leads the heroine into new and unlikely friendships with Miss Franny Block, the town librarian; Gloria Dump, a loner whom her neighbors, the Dewberry brothers, deem a "witch"; Otis, a misfit but gifted musician who runs the local pet store; her peer, "pinch-faced" Amanda; and the canine also leads Opal into a deeper connection with her preacher father. Scenes of Winn-Dixie raising a ruckus in the church (converted from a grocery store) or racing through their trailer-park home in terror of a thunderstorm deftly combine tension and humor. This bittersweet tale of contemporary life in a small Southern town will hold readers rapt. Ages 9-12. (Mar.)”

Review Reference:

[Review of the book Because of Winn-Dixie, by K. DiCamillo]. Publishers Weekly,

            247(8), 88. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/

Library Uses:

Focus ages: grades 1-5

This book can be used in a read aloud. Once completed, the library can host a movie night showing the movie version. The students and librarian can discuss the similarities and differences between the book and the movie. They can tell which one they prefer and why it might be more beneficial the read the book before watching the movie of the same title.