Because of Winn-Dixie (novel)

Before you even know my name, you can feel me. I am the quiet hum in a library, the promise of adventure tucked onto a shelf. I smell like paper and ink, but inside, I smell like a summer thunderstorm in Florida and the fur of a big, goofy dog. I hold the feelings of a lonely girl in a new town, and the happy, thumping tail of a friend who changes everything. I am a story about finding your way home, even when you're not sure where home is. Can you imagine a dog who can smile with his whole entire face? Well, I can. I am the book called 'Because of Winn-Dixie'.

My storyteller, a wonderful woman named Kate DiCamillo, brought me to life. During a very cold winter in a place called Minnesota, she was missing the warm sunshine of Florida where she grew up. She was also a little lonely and wished she could have a dog, but her apartment building said 'no pets allowed.' So, she did what storytellers do best: she imagined one. She imagined a big, scruffy, funny-looking dog who was a mess but had a heart of gold. She named him Winn-Dixie, after a grocery store where she imagined a girl might find him. This dog needed a friend, so she imagined a ten-year-old girl named India Opal Buloni, who felt just as out of place as Kate did. Every morning, Kate would wake up very early, before the sun, and write down two pages of my story. She pieced together the tale of how Opal and Winn-Dixie found each other and then, together, found a whole town full of friends. Finally, on March 8th, 2000, I was born as a real book, with a bright cover and pages ready to be turned for the first time.

Once I was printed, I traveled to bookstores and libraries all over the world. Children would pick me up, open my cover, and step right into the hot, sticky summer of Naomi, Florida, with Opal. They’d laugh out loud when Winn-Dixie, afraid of being left alone, crashed a church service and caught a mouse. They’d hide under the covers with him when he shivered during a thunderstorm. Through our adventures, readers met the friends Winn-Dixie helped Opal find: Gloria Dump, the kind, nearly-blind woman with a 'mistake tree' in her yard where bottles clinked in the wind; Otis, the quiet man who played his guitar to soothe the animals in the pet shop; and Miss Franny Block, the librarian who once bravely scared off a bear with nothing but a very large book. Readers discovered the secret of the Littmus Lozenge, a special candy that tasted sweet like root beer but also sad, like missing someone you love very much. I showed them that life can be both happy and sad at the exact same time, and that's not just okay, it's normal. Most of all, I taught them that a scruffy friend with four paws can open your heart to everyone around you.

My story became so loved that I was given a very special medal called a Newbery Honor in 2001. A few years later, in 2005, I even leaped off the page and became a movie, where people could see Winn-Dixie's famous smile on a giant screen. Today, I still sit on shelves in schools and libraries, waiting for new friends like you to find me. I am here to remind you that everyone feels a little lost sometimes, but you are never truly alone. Friendship can be found in the most surprising places—in a library, at a pet store, or even in the produce aisle of a grocery store. I am more than just paper and ink; I am a reminder to keep your heart open, because you never know when your very own Winn-Dixie might come running into your life.