Because of Winn-Dixie

My 25 cents

I picked up an almost untouched copy of this book for an incredible mere 25 cents at a local thrift store. I read it in a couple of hours while it rained this Friday evening. It always seems to rain on Labor Day weekend here. I remember reading Charlotte's Web to my two girls on another Labor Day, long time ago, a late afternoon when it rained and the electricity went out so I remember reading it aloud to them by the gray light coming in through the window.

I confess, after reading a few chapters today, I was pretty attached to Winn-Dixie. I skipped to the last couple of pages. Just to make sure the dog didn't die. I, too, had a dog named Dixie (just Dixie) who I still think of often. I named her after my dad's favorite dog he show more had when we lived on the farm when I was a kid. A farm hand ran over that Dixie with a tractor, an accident that didn't seem possible. My dad never liked that guy, not before nor after. My Dixie, luckily, died of old age but that was hard, too. When I think of her, I always first think of her during her infirmity, confirming to myself that yes, it was her time. Then I can go on to think of her as young, energetic, happy faced with one lazy ear, and how that was the time of "me and Dixie."

Some books are like that, aren't they? They get mixed and stirred in with a bunch of other things in our life at the time we're reading them: the weather, the time of year, the people and animals who were with us. This time, decades after that other Labor Day weekend with my girls, it was just me silently reading with my two dogs, Elvie and Fizz, who I reached down to pet frequently. And it was raining.

I've never spent a quarter so well. show less

Because of Winn-Dixie is a stand-alone, middle-grade, children’s book about ten-year-old India Opal Buloni. Ever since young Opal’s mother left when she was three, it’s just been Opal and her father, who is a minister she thinks of as The Preacher. They only recently moved to the small town of Naomi, Florida, where The Preacher has taken a position as pastor of a little Baptist church that meets in an old storefront. It’s summertime, and Opal hasn’t really connected well with the few kids she’s met at church, so she’s feeling lonely. When The Preacher sends her to the Winn-Dixie supermarket one day to get food for dinner, a stray dog comes into the store, too. After the manager says he’s going to call the dog-catcher, show more Opal impulsively says the dog is hers and takes him home to The Preacher, who surprisingly lets her keep him. She calls him Winn-Dixie and pretty much everything else that happens to Opal that summer is all because of Winn-Dixie. She persuades her father, who never talks about the woman who birthed her, to tell her ten things about her mother, one for every year she’s been alive. She meets the librarian, Miss Franny Block, who shares stories about her family, and Gloria Dump, a nice woman who is called a witch by a pair of kid brothers Opal doesn’t like. She also meets Otis, the man who runs the pet store and gets a job cleaning up around the store to earn money to buy Winn-Dixie a collar and leash. And finally Opal starts interacting with the church kids she didn’t really care for and begins to understand them better. With the help of Gloria, she throws a party that brings all these disparate people together. But the night may be ruined when an unexpected thunderstorm hits, and Winn-Dixie, who’s terrified of storms, disappears.

Over the past couple of decades, from the time my kids were still school-age, I’ve heard a lot of good things about Kate DiCamillo, and I’ve had Because of Winn-Dixie on my TBR list for quite a while. I’m really glad that I finally got around to reading it, because it’s an utterly charming story that I very much enjoyed. I could relate well to Opal, being from a single-parent home and feeling lonely. I, too, as a child, often found myself interacting more with adults than kids my own age. Opal is far more outgoing than I’ve ever been, though. She isn’t afraid to talk to people and ask for what she needs. However, Winn-Dixie’s presence usually helps to facilitate many of her interactions with the people she meets that summer. Opal is a very likable character, kind and caring toward everyone she meets, except maybe the Dewberry brothers, but by the end, she’s even buried the hatchet with them. I love how she brings these misfit-type characters, all of whom are lonely in their own ways, together for her party, helping all these people she’s come to care about connect with one another. Because of Winn-Dixie and all her new friendships, Opal, herself, also comes to a place of forgiveness and acceptance of her mother’s abandonment. There are deft touches of magical realism sprinkled throughout that give the story an enchanting air. The book does explore some difficult topics such as parental abandonment and death, but IMHO it was all handled very age-appropriately. Because of Winn-Dixie was so well-written, it’s hard to believe it was Kate DiCamillo’s first published book. It’s made me eager to check out more of her work and to watch the movie version of the story. show less

India Opal Buloni, newly moved to the town of Naomi, Florida with her preacher father, is lonely and looking for something to occupy her summer when she walks into the local Winn Dixie (a supermarket chain common in the South) and discovers the chaos wrought by one unkempt but lovable stray dog. Determined to save this canine from the pound, she claims that the dog is hers, promptly naming him Winn Dixie, and bringing him home to her father. Winn Dixie soon involves Opal, as she is more commonly known, in many adventures, leading to her newfound friendships with many of the people in town, from Miss Franny Block, the elderly librarian at the Herman W. Block Memorial Library, to shy Otis, the ex-con musician working at Gertrude's Pets. show more Winn Dixie also brings Opal closer to 'the Preacher,' as she calls her father, leading him to open up a bit about her mother, who left them when Opal was still a little girl...

The second novel I have read from Kate DiCamillo, after the marvelous The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn Wixie is an immensely engaging, entertaining, and moving book. Winn Dixie himself is a wonderfully realized character - I loved the descriptions of his smile! - but then so is Opal, her father, and her new friends. The people in this story feel real, and although it is a fairly slim book, it leaves behind quite an impression. I thought DiCamillo did an excellent job exploring some of the pitfalls of meeting new people - making snap judgements, as Opal does with Amanda Wilkinson, unaware that she too is struggling with her own sorrow - while also highlighting the many joys of building a sense of community. Recommended to anyone looking for moving stories of children and their dogs, or to anyone interested in tales of moving to new homes and communities. show less

Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie is a touching, heartwarming story about a young girl and the stray dog that changes her life for the better. Over the course of the novel, Winn-Dixie (the eponymous dog) unites a wide cast of characters through his warm smile and compassionate nature, helping each person find a sense of peace in an otherwise troubling world. DiCamillo has written a beautiful story here, and Because of Winn-Dixie is destined to find a comfortable home on children’s bookshelves next to other classics like Charlotte’s Web and Winnie-the-Pooh.

Opal Buloni, the narrator of Because of Winn-Dixie, is a finely-crafted character: Opal is a believable young girl whose heart is simultaneously filled with a sense of show more childlike wonder and premature sadness over the absence of her mother. Like the stray dog Winn-Dixie, Opal feels like an orphan with “pathological fears” (a term DiCamillo uses) of being alone. The prose is easily accessible to young readers, and Opal’s narration feels natural – like the voice of a highly-intelligent “tween” who is just starting to tackle some of life’s more challenging issues.

DiCamillo touches upon some very serious, emotional topics in her novel, most significantly the grieving process involved with death and abandonment. Opal’s mother, whose absence has had a profound effect on Opal and her father, casts a long shadow over the book; sadly, the absence of a parent is a common scenario in today’s world, and many children will be able to use this novel as a form of bibliotherapy. DiCamillo’s depiction of this grieving process is very believable and realistic: like most children, Opal doesn’t fully grasp the depth of her own melancholy, but finds solace through her friends and family.

The rural setting of DiCamillo’s novel is timeless: the story could take place today, tomorrow, or fifty years ago. The places referenced in the novel (a church, a trailer park, a grocery store, a library, and an old woman’s house) transcend time and space. While the book occasionally hints at a debt to the rustic, mid-20th century small town of To Kill a Mockingbird, the Americana setting envisioned in Because of Winn-Dixie could just as easily be a contemporary town in rural Florida.

Like the book’s made-up Littmus Lozenge candy, Because of Winn-Dixie is infused with both happiness and sorrow – the happiness of finding love, and the sorrow of lost family. Every character in Because of Winn-Dixie feels a sense of loss, but manages to overcome this isolating barrier thanks in part to a smiling scamp of a dog. The most direct statement of the novel’s theme comes from Gloria Dump, who states that “There ain’t no way you can hold on to something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it.” What Kate DiCamillo has done with her novel is create a testament to temporary love, a powerful reminder that the time we spend with our loved ones has an expiration date; however, rather than fill us with a sense of impending loneliness, Because of Winn-Dixie makes us appreciate those around us, whether they be family, friend, canine, or all of the above.

Citation:
DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn-Dixie. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2000. Print. show less

The best scene in this book to me is at the end, at the party, and I don't want to spoil that for anyone but it's really the moment these folks who all seem like misfit toys come together. When Amanda is there and Opal thinks to herself, "I wanted to tell her I knew about Carson. I wanted to tell her I understood about losing people, but I didn't say anything. I was just extra nice." I'm reminded how complicated it is for young people to make sense of death.

This book was lovely… the story, the cast of characters and the writing. India Opal is a character that I will hold dear to my heart, because she reminders us in every page that no matter how many experiences or hardships we face, there will always be something to learn and grow from.

Book on CD performed by Cherry Jones
5***** and ❤

India Opal Buloni is lonely. Her mother has left. She and her father, a minister, have moved to a new town and she hasn’t made any friends yet. But a trip to the grocery store will change everything because there she finds an ugly stray dog. Winn-Dixie is a mutt who is afraid of thunderstorms, howls when left alone too long, but disarms everyone with his big toothy grin.

DiCamillo has written a lovely book that deals with some serious issues. Not only is India lonely, but her father – whom she calls “the preacher” – has retreated into his shell as a result of his wife’s leaving. India is loved and cared for, but her emotional needs aren’t being fulfilled at the beginning of show more the book. Because of Winn-Dixie India Opal finds friends, love, and some help in dealing with the loss of her mother. No, everything doesn’t turn out perfect in the book (just as it doesn’t in real life). But DiCamillo gives her readers a sense of hope that India (and her father) will come out of this period of their lives with full hearts.

Cherry Jones’s performance on the audio is terrific. Every character – including Winn-Dixie – is given a unique voice. At the end of the last disc, I wanted to just start over and listen again.

Update for re-read … or should I say re-listen, April 2020. I can’t improve on the basic review, nor on my comments re Cherry Jones’ performance on the audio. I did, in fact, listen again. show less