"Because of Winn Dixie"

2000 Newbery Honor Book

"Because of Winn Dixie"

Kate DiCamillo

Candlewick Press, 2000

Realistic Fiction, 2-5

Becuase of Winn Dixie is a story about a young girl, Opal, and the unique friendship that she shares with her dog, Winn-Dixie. She and her father, "the preacher" take in this stray dog and both fall in love with him. Winn-Dixie helps Opal make friends in the town of Naomi, where she and her father have just moved. She makes friends with the most unlikely characters, who Opal and Winn-Dixie lead to feel accepted and loved. Opal realizes that all that has happened to her this summer is because Winn-Dixie. She has made new friends, found a job at the pet shop, been invited to a young girl's birthday party, and has been able to let go of the emptiness in her heart that is there because she misses her mother whom she has never met. When she thinks that she loses Winn-Dixie during a thunderstrom, her heart is broken. Opal and her father run through the rain for a long while, searching for Winn-Dixie. Here, in the midst of the storm, Opal is finally able to ask her father about her mother who Opal has never met and longs to hear about. Her father, who she calls "the preacher" and "the turtle", breaks down and cries, telling Opal that he is so thanful that she is his daughter. Winn-Dixie brings Opal closer to her father, leads her to true friends who love and care for her, and leads her to find so much happiness that she says, "I felt my heart swell up inside me with pure happiness."(176)

This book evoked much emotional response for me! I have a yellow lab named Ginger, and Winn-Dixie reminded me a lot of my own dog. I enjoyed how Opal described Winn-Dixie. Her first description of Winn-Dixie says that "mostly he looked like a piece of old brown carpet that had been left in the rain."(11). Several times during the book she refers to Winn-Dixie smiling, saying that "he pulled back his lips and showed me all his teeth." I believe that my dog does that too! The way that Opal descirbes her dog makes it impossile not to want to meet him and have him smile at you! It almost seems that Winn-Dixie is very humanlike. He does not like to be alone, sneezes, likes peanut butter, sleeps in Opal's bed, sits on the couch with Opal and her dad, and smiles. I believe that Winn-Dixie's importance to Opal helps students reach the "being in and stepping out" reader response stance. This means that students use the story as a basis for reflecting on their own lives, on the lives of others, and the human experience. I took this stance as I read this book because I began to think a lot about my relationship with my own dog. I thought about the fun activties that we do together and how I also treat my dog like a human. I talk to Ginger much in the same way that Opal talks to Winn-Dixie and I think that I also can tell when Ginger is smiling or scared. My dog is also scared of thunderstorms. When Opal thought that she had lost Winn-Dixie during the thunderstorm, I knew exactly how frantic, fearful, and heartbroken that she felt. Ginger ran away from us when we were hiking in the mountains one summer. She ran right back to our vechicle, thank goodness. I also know the happiness that Opal felt when she found Winn-Dixie. Much like Opal, I ran and wrapped my arms around Ginger. I believe that students who have a pet who they care deeply about, it does not have to be a dog, could relate to Opal and Winn-Dixie's relationship. Maybe they can relate to what Opal feels in the beginning-that Winn-Dixie is her only friend. Even if students do not have a pet, maybe they can think of a friend, neighbor, or movie character who have found a friend in an animal. For example, the movie My Dog Skip, Far From Home, and Homeward Bound are all great examples of the impact that a dog can have on a life. My Dog Skip is a story much like Winn-Dixie's. Skip becomes the young boy's best friend and leads him to make friends and become more confident in himself. Connections with Because of Winn-Dixie can also be compared to other books like Old Yeller, Big Red, Shiloh, and even Stuart Little. The class could have a discussion aboout this or even write a paper or journal entry about the unique relationships and frienships between animals and people.

I believe that readers from all ages would enjoy this book! I found myself laughing out loud at times. I laughed when Winn-Dixie caught the mouse in the church and laughed imagining all the animals out of the cages at the pet shop, sitting at Otis' feet, listening to him play his guitar. I was felt very sad at times during the book. When Opal talked about how much she wanted to meet her Mother and that her heart felt empty without her Mother, I was sad. When I found out that Amanda's little brother Carson drowned, I felt sad. When the preacher talked to Opal about her Mother, telling Opal that he was so glad that she left Opal with him and that she was proabley never coming back, I also felt like I could cry. The book also made me feel happy and joyful. At the party when Opal brought Otis, Sweetie Pie, Miss Fanny Block, Amanda, Dunlap, Stevie, and the preacher all to Gloria Dump's house, I felt happy for Opal. She was surrounded by friends who she and Winn-Dixie had brought together.