Because of Winn-Dixie

DiCamillo, K. (2000). Because of Winn Dixie. Cambridge, Ma: Candlewich Press.

Genre: Realistic Fiction/Chapter Book

Age Level: 8-12

Book Talk

Audience: Third grade students

Have you ever moved to a new town?  Have you ever wanted a pet?  Well if so, you’ve got to read this great book.  It’s about a girl named India Opal Buloni (funny name, right?).  Opal is spending her first summer in a new town and is lonely and hasn’t yet made new friends.  One day, when visiting a local Winn Dixie, she stumbles upon a lone dog.  When a store associate is upset about the dog, India claims it.  Although she isn’t sure how her father (the preacher) will fill about the dog, she takes him home and luckily is able to keep it.  The book tells the story of a friendship that leads to much more.  I think that you would really, really love this book!  You could easily connect with the friendship that Opal and Winn Dixie have. 

 Reflection

This story is realistic fiction because it is a very realistic, believable text.  This means that all of the events in this text could happen.  The events in this story and the characters are easily relateable and life-like.  This text has emotional realism, meaning that the emotions and feelings in this text seem real.  This story captures the struggles of an alternative family, as Opal’s mother is not present in this text.  The text portrays a growing relationship between a father, his daughter and a family pet. 

Ideas for teaching/comprehension strategies that can be used with this text:   This text would be great for types of characters, especially protagonist.  Opal is such a well-developed character that would be great for understanding protagonist.  This text would also be great for summarizing.  Students could use the SWBST (somebody, wanted, but, so, then) strategies to synthesize through the important points in the text (see chart). 

Questions to pose:

How does Opal change throughout the text? 
What impact does Winn-Dixie have on Opal? The Preacher?

Additional Resources:

Resource guide: http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763607762.btg.1.pdf