DiCamillo, K. (2000). Because of Winn-Dixie. Candlewick Press: Cambridge, MA.
Genre: Realistic Fiction because the book tells a story that could actually happen. Some of the events of this story could happen but are unlikely.
Age Level: 8-11
Because of Winn-Dixie is a heartwarming tale of a young girl who finds friendship with a stray dog after moving to her new home in Naomi, Florida. This book is written by Kate DiCamillo and is a Newberry Honor book. I chose this book for the author. I have read a few books by Kate DiCamillo and very much enjoyed them. I was interested to see what Because of Winn-Dixie would be like. I enjoyed this book very much and it would be a great read-aloud for young students in about first or second grade. I would recommend this book for my students because most young students love to hear stories about animals. It would also be a great book to read to students about the words in the story. They are appropriate for their setting in that they are told through a ten year-old’s voice and because they are distinct and Southern. It would be a great book to introduce different kinds of voice to your students.
Because of Winn-Dixie is a realistic fiction book, but more specifically, it is an animal story. Winn-Dixie is a big ugly stray dog with bald patches that protagonist India Opal finds in the produce isle of a grocery store causing uproar among the management and customers. She immediately claims the dog and takes him home. When reading this story, it is immediately discovered that this is not a story with a perfect family and characters without problems of their own. This story has a deep underlying theme of loneliness and sadness. Main character Opal is a young ten year old girl who lives with her father whom she calls “the preacher.”
“My daddy is a good preacher and a nice man, but sometimes it’s hard for me to think about him as my daddy, because he spends so much time preaching or thinking about preaching or getting ready to preach. And so, in my mind, I think of him as ‘the preacher’.” (Chapter Two)
Opal is a lonely girl without friends in her new town and immediately latches on to Winn-Dixie. She identifies with Winn-Dixie, calling him an orphan just like her:
“I told him how we were alike. ‘See,’ I said, ‘you don’t have any family and neither do I. I’ve got the preacher, or course. But I don’t have a mama. I mean I have one, but I don’t know where she is. She left when I was three years old. I can’t hardly remember her. And I bet you don’t remember your mama much either. So we’re almost like orphans.’” (Chapter Three)
After making friends with Winn-Dixie and promising to protect him, she finds all sorts of adventures and meets new people along the way in her small town. Her adventures are told in a somewhat episodic plot. Her stories of people that she meets are divided into chapters with the last few chapters of the book provide the climax of the story when she gathers all the people she meets together for a party. Opal discovers that people are not always what they seem and to not judge someone by first impressions. The lessons that Opal learns that summer are ones that young students can immediately identify with. Opal’s feelings about her mother are also an element of the story that contemporary readers will be able to relate to in one way or another.
If I were to use this book in my classroom, it would be a great book to begin a literature circle for. Students could mark parts of the book that they relate to or find important and talk about them. The book is loaded with many discussion topics about different types of families and also the way that people are treated because of the first impression that they give. The book is also an animal story. Although it is realistic fiction, the book has many elements that would be unlikely, particularly the actions of Winn-Dixie. Students could find these elements and talk about the ones that are unlikely and compare them to those elements that are fairly common in today’s society.
Big Questions that could be used with this book in the classroom are:
Have you ever judged someone by the first impression that they gave and found that you were completely wrong? What are some elements of this story that would be unlikely? Have you ever had a pet that was special to you, the way Winn-Dixie is special to Opal? How and why do you think Opal was able to “let go” of the constant thoughts of her mother?
Here are some more resources for using Winn-Dixie in the classroom:
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