Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

• Title: Because of Winn-Dixie
• Author: Kate DiCamillo
• Publishing: Candlewick. February 10th, 2009. 
• Synopsis: This story revolves around the life of fictional character, a little girl named Opal Buloni. Opal and her preacher father move to a little town in Florida called Naomi. Opal is really not happy living in Naomi and she really misses her old home, old friends and her mother who abandoned her as a little girl. Opal keeps feeling sad until one day she makes a new friend in a dog who she names Winn-Dixie, due to the fact that she found him ransacking a grocery store with the same name. She begins to love Winn-Dixie as does her father, and Winn-Dixie leads to Opal finding new friends in Miss Franny a little old librarian, an alleged witch Gloria Dump, and a pet store worker named Otis. Soon the friends begin chatting all the time and swapping stories. Opal learns through talking to them that sometimes people aren't always what they seem. Opal's new friends convince her to have a party and even invite the children who taunt her. Everything at the shindig goes well until a thunderstorm comes and Winn-Dixie becomes scared and runs off into the night. Opal and her father search and search for him but with no results. Opal breaks down and her and her father have a heart to heart. During the conversation Opal realizes that her mother isn't coming back and that she still has many people who love her and that she can love in return. Things get even better for Opal as she discovers Winn-Dixie, who was under her bed hiding all along. 
• The illustration on the cover of the book does a great job of portraying the bond between Winn-Dixie and Opal and really helps the reader to visually realize the special bond that the two share. 
• I think this is a wonderful book because it portrays a powerful lesson. This book really shows that even if you have lost people in your life, there are always people who love you and that you just have to stop and realize it. In addition, this book shows that love can come from unlikely places and can be as simple as love from a dog. This lesson is woven so well into this story by Kate DiCamillo and this book is one of my favorites because of that fact. 
• I would definitely use this book in a 4th or 5th grade class as a novel study. I found only some awesome worksheets that would help my students with comprehension that can be found here: http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/book-because-of-winn-dixie.html
• I also stumbled upon a great learning activity online that I would definitely use when doing a novel study of Because of Winn-Wixie. Just like the ghost tree in the novel, I would make our own personal class ghost tree in which each student would create a tag with something they regret and wish they could take back on one side, and something they are very proud of on the other. They would then hang their tag on the tree. I found this idea on site that can be found here: http://greatteaching.carnegie.org/?p=3186
• Kate DiCamillo's website can be found here: http://www.katedicamillo.com