Because of Winn-Dixie By: Kate Dicamillo

Because of Winn-Dixie   By: Kate Dicamillo

Candlewick Press; Cambridge Massachusetts

Copy right: 2000

(Realistic Fiction)

            This was such a sweet book, I really enjoyed reading it.  The main character is Opal, who just recently moved to a new town in Florida with her preacher father. Opals mother left when she was just three years old and her father doesn’t like to talk about her mother. When she asks for ten things about her mother she finds out that they both have red hair, freckles and are quick runners.  Mostly they both like stories, to which Opal starts collecting so that she can one day retell them to her mother.  Opal makes lots of friends in the town, including a dog she finds at the local super market, Winn-Dixie, to which she names the dog after.  This really is a story about friendship and forgiveness.

            I remember my daughter read this book in fourth grade and loved it, I now see why she liked it so much.  Nine to eleven really is the perfect age for this book.  Students will be able to make a text to self connection on so many different levels.  Understanding friendship and a friendship with an animal is one example.  Some may understand the struggle of a missing parent or loved one. While other will recognize the value of making friends.  My text to text connection was with the book the mightiest heart.  I thought of the connection the pet and their owners had and how they gave the owner that wanted-loved feeling they needed.  Text to world connection I made is that this is a universal experience that some have.  There are children all over the world who have questions about absent parents and who struggle to find their place and are saved by invaluable friendships.