Because Of Winn-Dixie

Before a brave mouse named Despereaux or a poetic squirrel named Ulysses won Newbery Medals; before a china rabbit named Edward Tulane won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, there was Winn-Dixie, the little dog with a brilliant sense of humor, who earned Kate DiCamillo her first Newbery Honor in 2001. We meet him soon after ten-year-old Opal moves to Naomi, Florida. She walks into a Winn-Dixie supermarket—and comes out with a dog who, despite being scruffy and underfed, seems to be having more fun being alive than anyone around him. Winn-Dixie not only helps Opal make some odd yet genuine new friends, he also helps her get over her mother's abandonment, in this chapter book for readers 8 to 11.