Because of Winn Dixie (NOVEL)

 

Title: Because of Winn Dixie

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Published By: Candlewick Press

When I began reading this book, I was a little confused. I wasn't sure why Opal referred to her daddy as "the preacher" instead of "daddy." I did love how the story began though by Opal going to the store for macaroni and cheese, rice, and two tomatoes but she comes back with a dog. I thought Kate DiCamillo did a wonderful job describing Winn Dixie. When she says that he "looks like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain," I can just imagines this brown carpet and imagine how shabby the dog must look. I loved how Winn Dixie became the first friend Opal had made since she moved.  The part in the book that really got my attention was when Opal asks her daddy to tell her ten things about her mom. Later on in the story when they can't find Winn Dixie, I almost cried when Opal thinks about making the list of ten things about Winn Dixie to tell people. Thank goodness, Winn Dixie is still at the house and Opal never has to make that list!

 I liked this because I was told immediately how Opal found Winn Dixie and why she brought Winn Dixie home. As a reader that is when I  began to build a personal attachment to Opal's character. This is when in the story that they couldn't and didn't  want to put the book down. In the beginning  I began to see who Opal really was and how she begins to make new friends as the time passes.  I imagined what it would have been like to be in Opal's shoes. Her mother had left her, her daddy was a preacher, they had moved, she didn't have any friends. It was almost as if the whole world was against her. But once she meets Winn Dixie, she meets her best friend. Later on, Opal makes a friend with the librarian Miss Franny. The "witch" that the boys tell her about isn't really a witch. Opal becomes friends with Gloria Dump, the witch. She even begins coming by and visiting her and reads her "Gone with the Wind." Opal wants to get a job at Gertrude's to pay for Winn Dixie's leash, so she meets Otis. Opal finds out that Otis was in jail and she later figures out it was not for anything that bad. I just thought it was amazing how DiCamillo brought this story to her reader in a way that makes them feel like they are there beside Opal making all these new friends. 

 My favorite friendship that took place in the book was between Opal and Dunlap. Dunlap was one of the boys who gave Opal a hard time and told her that Gloria Dump was a witch. Amanda was also another character in the book that Opal became friends with. Opal wasn't too fond of Amanda at first and then she found out her younger brother had drowned and from that time on she just felt sorry for Amanda. Through this book, I think that students are able to realize that they can make friends of any age or size or from any background. All that matters is that they have good friends that they can count on.

My favorite part of the book is at the end where all of Opal's friends come together for a party at Gloria Dump's house. I think it is wonderful that DiCamillo ended the story on a happy note with all the friends getting along and singing to Otis's guitar.

I would definitely use this book in my class. I feel like it would really help students who come from broken homes or from rough backgrounds to realize that it is going to be okay and that they can have friends that are any age. Like Otis and Miss Franny and Gloria Dump were all much older than Opal. I think that sometimes it is better to have some older friends just as long as you keep the friends that are your own age too.

 The few pictures in the book were very detailed but simple black lines, no color added which gives it that nostalgic look. This book is classic book that a friend loaned to me for my novel and I really did enjoy this book. I think that I could make a connection with her because my family lived in a trailer park and our first dog was a stray.