Kate DiCamillo

Fiction 2000 | 182 pages

February in my book club is always a fun month.  Because it is a shorter month, we typically select a shorter book.  But lately we have been selecting two short books.  This month we will be discussing Grayson by Lynne Cox (see my blog post in November 2024) and Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.

Because of Winn-Dixie is a children's book.  And it is as delightful as they come! In Because of Winn-Dixie, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni learns how to make sense of life after moving to a new town with her preacher father. Opal carries a sadness around with her, as does her father, because her mom left her when she was three. And she just left a town where she had friends and is beginning anew.

Opal goes to the grocery store one day and encounters a dog who is rambunctiously freeing all the vegetables from their shelves.  There are peppers and onions and tomatoes rolling around and the store manager is screaming.  The dog is clearly a stray, with patches of fur missing, a bum leg, and his ribs showing.   Opal claims the dog is hers and, when she needs a name, she can think of nothing else other than the name of the store they are in ... Winn-Dixie.

We follow Opal and Winn-Dixie as they make new friends in this town where her dad is the new preacher.  She meets lovely characters, some adult and some children. The story is about hope, love, kindness, forgiveness, listening, generosity of spirit.

A favorite moment for me is when elderly blind Gloria Dump ("unfortunate last name" Gloria says!) shares a family tradition, Littmus Lozenges, with Opal.  The candy tastes like root beer and strawberry and also … the secret ingredient … sorrow.

This is a really sweet book, a feel-good tale, optimistic and filled with love.  And yet, I had to make certain it was a children's book, because it spoke so clearly to my heart.

Yes, read this little gem.  You can get through it in about two luxurious cups of coffee.  I look forward to our discussion at book club.

February 2026