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Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo
A big, ugly, grinning dog helps heal a little girl's loneliness.
When 10-year-old India Opal Buloni goes to the local Winn-Dixie grocery store for macaroni and cheese, white rice, and tomatoes, and comes home with a big, ugly stray dog, her life changes forever. She names the dog Winn-Dixie and convinces her father, the preacher of the Open Arms Baptist Church, to let her keep him.
Opal and everyone that Winn-Dixie meets soon discover he is no ordinary dog. He can smile. He can pull back his lips and show his teeth in an ear- to-ear grin.
Many doors are opened to Opal that summer because of Winn-Dixie and his happy-go-lucky attitude. She makes new, if somewhat quirky, friends in her new hometown. She learns acceptance and tolerance of others. She gets her father to open up about her mother who left them seven years earlier. She also grows closer to her father and begins to let go of the sadness and loneliness created by her mother's abandonment.
This book lives up to its reputation as a Newberry Honor Book. It's written on a level that both grown-ups and children can enjoy. Children won't consciously think about the lessons this book teaches. They will, however, just enjoy the story told in Opal's own words. My 10-year-old says it's now her favorite book and can't wait until the movie comes out in February.
Title: Because of Winn-Dixie
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 043925051X
Review written by: Sherry Burroughs
Reviewer's Rating:8.5
Reader's Rating: 10.00
Reader's Votes: 2
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