Rating: 
Summary: A heartwarming story!
Review: Because of Win Dixie is a story that will teach compassion and understanding to any child who reads it. The book makes an excellent connection between reader and character, India Opal, a ten year old girl who moves to Florida with her father. Discouraged and in an unfamiliar town India Opal meets a stray dog who soon become her best friend! Naming the dog Win Dixie, after the grocery store he was found in, India Opal takes him under her wing and welcomes him into the family. Through the company of Win Dixie, India Opal seems to find the courage to make friends and eventually begins to feel like she belongs in this new town.
This book would be an excellent read for any child struggling to fit in in a new town, school, or community. It is a short read and extremely enjoyable. Any child who has a love for dogs will be drawn into the book and captivated by the heartwarming essence of the relationship between India Opal and Win Dixie!
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Summary: As sweet and sorrowful as a Littmus Lozenge
Review: Kate Dicamillo has written a little gem of a book. When India Opal moves to Naomi, Florida, she is both motherless and friendless. The story really begins after Opal meets and adopts Winn-Dixie, a mangy but open-hearted dog who has a number of unique talents, including the ability to smile. I read this book aloud to my first-grade daughter, and she absolutely loved it. When we finished, she said "No wonder this book has a medal on the cover. I want to read it all over again." She laughed at Winn-Dixie and his antics, but she still understood the true message of this story: that even kids can have sadness in their lives, but that knowing sadness sometimes makes life itself sweeter. Opal's sadness is that her mother has left her and her father and is apparently never coming back. Each character in this book has some sorrow all their own, and Winn-Dixie, a dog with a talent for friendship, brings this group of lonely people together and creates, more or less, a family for Opal. I can't recommend this book highly enough -- if you are lucky enough to have a daughter in grade school, read this book to her. She will love it. You will too.
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Summary: Because of Winn-Dixie
Review: In terms of literary merit, Because of Winn-Dixie was created by a skilled author because it won a Newberry Honor award. The characters and setting of this book are unique and believable. The characters and setting seem to come alive in your mind. They are very easy to envision. The dialogue in Because of Winn-Dixie allows the reader to see the peronalities of the characters. The dialogue pulls the reader right into the story. The point of view is interesting because many people can probably relate to having a special bond with a pet. This book is definitely meaningful to a dog lover, satisfying reader taste and interest. The sentence length varies and the language flows smoothly. The plot of Because of Winn-Dixie has a subtle dramatic question. As Opal thinks about her long lost mother returning, the reader also ponders the same thing. The calm pacing and style of this book is appropriate to the calm and innocent content.
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Summary: Because of Winn-Dixie
Review: When I began this novel, I did not think that it was going to keep my attention as much as it did. In this heartwarming story, a young girl named Opal must deal with issues that a normal 10 year old doesn't usually have to face. Having just moved to Naomi, Florida, she must adjust to a new home, new people, come to terms with her mother abandoning her and her father when she was younger, and deal with getting her father to open up to her about it. Finding a dog, she names him Winn-Dixie and they become inseparable. This book tells of how this young girl learns a lot about the important issues in her life with her dog helping her along the way. Opal learns that everyone has things to deal with in life, including her dog who is afraid of thunder.
Because of Winn-Dixie has characters that are believable. They can be seen in real-life and are given issues that real people must face as told above with what Opal has to deal with. Told from Opal's point of view, it allows for children to see what she is thinking as she is going through all of this. Children can learn to be sensitive to other's feelings. The reader becomes so involved in this little girl's life and what is going to happen in the end. It is wondered if Opal will feel like a normal child again or if her heart will feel empty from what she is missing in her life. The pacing and style are appropriate to the content in this book. In the category of realistic fiction, it moves at a good pace in moving from day to day in Opal's life.
I highly recommend Because of Winn-Dixie to children 8 years of age and up. A Newberry Honor Book, it develops the themes of friendship, tolerance, adjusting, and sensitivity. These themes can be very helpful to children as they are growing and facing many changes in thier lives. It shows them that it is ok to let go of some things in life. A few of the issues that Opal had to deal with in this book, I have had to deal with myself when I was about her age. It was interesting to see how she handled things and then to relate how I dealt with them when I had to. I think that children who are Opal's age should read this book so they can gain an understanding of how every person's life can be very different from their own.
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Summary: Because of Winn-Dixie is a must read!
Review: Because of Winn-Dixie is one of the many "good books" for children today. Almost all of us can remember the pet from our childhood that changed our lives. The one we took everywhere and told our deepest secrets to. This book is about that animal for 10-year-old India Opal. Anyone that reads can relate it to their own experiences.
Kate DiCamillo takes a young girl that is feeling lost and hopeless, and over the course of a summer the girl meets amazing new people, all thanks to the stray she takes into her heart. The people she meets as she is wandering around town are all as different as night and day. We meet six-year-old Sweetie Pie Thomas, ex-convict Otis, brothers Dunlap and Stevie, Miss Franny the librarian, and Gloria Dump. Even though the characters are so diverse, DiCamillo somehow makes the reader understand where each of them is coming from. She puts the reader at the core of the story, Florida summer heat and all.
This book has an appropriate range of vocabulary for the intended reader. The dialogue is important to the merit of the book. The reader gets to know the characters by the dialogue between them. The book is evenly paced through-out the book. The reader gets a sense of smoothness whole reading. The style of Because of Winn-Dixie fits the mood the author is trying to portray. She uses just the right mix of dialogue and narration from Opal to create a sense of loneliness and longing among the characters.
Overall, I would recommend this book to any children that are looking for a book to make them smile and cry. This book will touch your heart and warm your soul. It is full of literary merit and is in good taste.
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Summary: KU Student-Elementary Education
Review: "Because of Winn-Dixie" is a charming story of a young girl and her dog that stresses the notion that friendships can be found in the most unexpected places. When 10 year old India Opal Buloni moves to the town of Naomi, Florida during the hot summer months, she is faced with difficult issues: a preacher father engulfed in his work, a lack of solid friendships, and the faded memory of an alcoholic mother she never really knew. While shopping at the grocery store one afternoon, she encounters a huge, stray dog running wild throughout the store. She claims the dog as her own and ironically names him Winn-Dixie after the store itself. The events that follow develop into a moving tale of how one dog changes a lonely little girl's life forever. Winn-Dixie's companionship, playful spirit, and loyalty allow Opal to confront her father's neglect, extend her circle of friends to a variety of people of all ages, and come to terms with her mother's abandonment. Without Winn-Dixie, Opal's life seems like it could take a drastically different direction. Therefore, it is altogether fitting that this book is entitled "Because of Winn-Dixie".
The book is a wonderful and easy read that can warm even the coldest of hearts. The themes of love and friendship are evident throughout the novel. I firmly believe that anyone who has possessed a valuable friendship in his or her lifetime will fall in love with this book. Not only does "Because of Winn-Dixie" teach an important lesson, it is also very enjoyable to read due to all of Opal and Winn-Dixie's many adventures and mishaps. For the young and the young at heart, "Because of Winn-Dixie" is one book that possesses great literary merit and deserves enormous acclaim in the world of children's literature.
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Summary: A Dog Lover's Treat
Review: Because of Winn- Dixie by Kate Di Camillo is an interesting creation of a ten-year old girl named India Opal Buloni. Who moves to a new town of Naomi, Florida and experiences all the great apsects in life just by meeting an ugly dog named Winn- Dixie. The characters in the story are believable. They are realistic in a way that any child could pick up this book and understand what India has been through. The vocabulary in the book is not difficult for one to read. In one part of the story, there is a surprise observation that flows naturally, for example India and her friends have a party, Winn- Dixie was there but nature called and a thunderstorm occurred. Winn- Dixie is afraid of thunderstroms and runs away. The suspense of India and her father, a preacher, trying to find Winn- Dixie was filled with great amazement. The style of this book is definately appropriate to the reader and the dialogue that is used provides the reader into an enjoyable insight of the characters.
This book is one of my favorite children's books. It has a delicious taste that is enjoyable to the reader. I think children of any age would love to read this book. It's about friendship, strength and loyalty to another. If you are a dog lover you should definately read this book because it just goes to show how dog's are like humans and that they do change people's lives no mattter how young or old you are.
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Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK! It rocks!
Review: Because of Winn-Dixie is like, the real world, it starts out with a girl and she went into a store and all of a sudden people started screaming, like there was an earthquake! And then she saw that a dog was making trouble in the store; so she said it's my dog; it must have gotten out of it's collar or something it won't happen again. So the manager let her have the dog, and on the way home she saw that the dog was really dirty and that it was smiling at her in a way, and it was an ugly way. So she said I hope my dad lets me keep you. Oh and you need a bath. But anyway that's where the real action begins. With all of the characters, Otis, the girl, her dad, Winn-Dixie, and lots more! Oh and also her mother died and once in the story she asked her dad to tell her ten or eleven things about her mom I can't remeber how many because I read this book 3 months ago! I definetily would recemond this book to everyone who loves dogs!
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Summary: Because Of Winn Dixie
Review: Because of Winn Dixie is the most funniest book that we have ever read. My favorite charactor is Winn Dixie. My favorite part is the middle chapter. My favorite chapter is chapter 18. We realy love Because Of Winn Dixie. We also think that this book diserves this award.
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Summary: This is a good book
Review: I think you sould read this book beause it is sad and happy it might make you cry but it is good. anthony
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