70 pages 2 hours read

Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn-Dixie

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2000

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Introduction

Because of Winn-Dixie

  • Genre: Fiction; middle grade realistic
  • Originally Published: 2000
  • Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 660L; grades 3-6
  • Structure/Length: 26 chapters; approximately 182 pages; approximately 2 hours, 28 minutes on audio
  • Protagonist/Central Conflict: The novel follows 10-year-old India Opal Buloni who has just moved to Naomi, Florida with her father, a preacher. The central conflict involves Opal’s loneliness and longing for her mother who left when she was three, her struggles to fit into a new town, and how her life changes when she adopts a stray dog that she names Winn-Dixie.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Themes of abandonment and loneliness; mild emotional distress; discussions of alcoholism; use of the “r” slur; mild profanity

Kate DiCamillo, Author

  • Bio: Born 1964; American author of children’s fiction; worked in a book warehouse before becoming a full-time writer; often incorporates animals in her stories; works have been translated into 39 languages; one of the prominent figures in contemporary children's literature
  • Other Works: The Tiger Rising (2001); The Tale of Despereaux (2003); The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006); Flora & Ulysses (2013)
  • Awards: Newbery Honor (2001); Josette Frank Award (2001)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

  • Friends and Family
  • Loneliness and Loss
  • Seeing with the Heart