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