{"product_id":"because-of-winndixie-isbn-9781536214352","title":"Because of Winn-Dixie","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller and beloved classic includes an afterword from the author.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne summer’s day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries—and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It’s because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it’s because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about \u003ci\u003eeverything\u003c\/i\u003e that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie. “This book is (I hope) a hymn of praise to dogs, friendship, and the South,” Kate DiCamillo said of her best-selling debut novel, which has been awarded a Newbery Honor, translated into nearly thirty languages, and turned into a major motion picture. The story of a preacher’s daughter named Opal whose life is transformed by a scruffy dog named Winn-Dixie continues to touch the hearts of readers of all ages.\"Take one disarmingly \u003cb\u003eengaging \u003c\/b\u003eprotagonist and put her in the company of a tenderly rendered canine and you've got yourself a recipe for the best kind of down-home literary treat. Kate DiCamillo's voice in Because of Winn-Dixie should carry from the steamy, sultry pockets of Florida clear across the miles to \u003cb\u003eenchant young readers everywhere\u003c\/b\u003e.\" — Karen Hesse, author of the Newbery-award winner Out of the Dust \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow, and hope. And it's funny, too. \u003cb\u003eA real gem\u003c\/b\u003e.” \u003cbr\u003e– \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cb\u003e[E]xquisitely crafted\u003c\/b\u003e first novel. Each chapter possesses an arc of its own and reads almost like a short story in its completeness; yet the chapters add up to much more than a sum of their parts . . . This \u003cb\u003ebittersweet \u003c\/b\u003etale of contemporary life in a small Southern town will hold readers rapt.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e–Publishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A \u003cb\u003egentle \u003c\/b\u003ebook about good people coming together to combat lonliness and heartache--with a little canine assistance.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e– The Horn Book\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This well-crafted, realistic, and \u003cb\u003eheartwarming \u003c\/b\u003estory will be read and reread as a new favorite deserving a long-term place on library shelves.”\u003cbr\u003e–\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“ \u003cb\u003ePoignant \u003c\/b\u003eand delicately told.” – \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The books' truthfulness is what makes it so \u003cb\u003epowerful\u003c\/b\u003e. People can identify with the fact that everyone sort of isolates themselves because of a misconnection or a loss or whatever is in their lives.”\u003cbr\u003e–\u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“It's the kind of book people love and tell their friends to read.”\u003cbr\u003e–\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An \u003cb\u003eenchanting \u003c\/b\u003elittle book with a touch of magic, a cast of great characters, and a lot of real life and wisdom.”\u003cbr\u003e–\u003ci\u003eStar Tribune\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Both kids and grown-ups love it . . . it's a great read-aloud book . . . it has scooped up numerous awards . . . it's an \u003cb\u003eunforgettable \u003c\/b\u003estory about making friends.”\u003cbr\u003e– \u003ci\u003eOrlando Sentinel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eKate DiCamillo\u003c\/b\u003e is the beloved author of many books for young readers, including the Orris and Timble, Mercy Watson, and Tales from Mercy Watson’s Deckawoo Drive series. Her books \u003ci\u003eFlora \u0026amp; Ulysses\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Tale of Despereaux\u003c\/i\u003e both received Newbery Medals. A former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, she lives in Minneapolis.\u003cb\u003eChapter One\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog. This is what happened: I walked into the produce section of the Winn-Dixie grocery store to pick out my two tomatoes and I almost bumped right into the store manager. He was standing there all red-faced, screaming and waving his arms around.\u003cbr\u003e   “Who let a dog in here?” he kept on shouting. “Who let a dirty dog in here?”\u003cbr\u003e   At first, I didn’t see a dog. There were just a lot of vegetables rolling around on the floor, tomatoes and onions and green peppers. And there was what seemed like a whole army of Winn-Dixie employees running around waving their arms just the same way the store manager was waving his.\u003cbr\u003e   And then the dog came running around the corner. He was a big dog. And ugly. And he looked like he was having a real good time. His tongue was hanging out and he was wagging his tail. He skidded to a stop and smiled right at me. I had never before in my life seen a dog smile, but that is what he did. He pulled back his lips and showed me all his teeth. Then he wagged his tail so hard that he knocked some oranges off a display, and they went rolling everywhere, mixing in with the tomatoes and onions and green peppers.\u003cbr\u003e   The manager screamed, “Somebody grab that dog!”\u003cbr\u003e   The dog went running over to the manager, wagging his tail and smiling. He stood up on his hind legs. You could tell that all he wanted to do was get face to face with the manager and thank him for the good time he was having in the produce department, but somehow he ended up knocking the manager over. And the manager must have been having a bad day, because lying there on the floor, right in front of everybody, he started to cry. The dog leaned over him, real concerned, and licked his face.\u003cbr\u003e   “Please,” said the manager. “Somebody call the pound.”\u003cbr\u003e   “Wait a minute!” I hollered. “That’s my dog. Don’t call the pound.”\u003cbr\u003e   All the Winn-Dixie employees turned around and looked at me, and I knew I had done something big. And maybe stupid, too. But I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t let that dog go to the pound.\u003cbr\u003e   “Here, boy,” I said.\u003cbr\u003e   The dog stopped licking the manager’s face and put his ears up in the air and looked at me, like he was trying to remember where he knew me from.\u003cbr\u003e   “Here, boy,” I said again. And then I figured that \u003cbr\u003e the dog was probably just like everybody else in \u003cbr\u003e the world, that he would want to get called by a name, only I didn’t know what his name was, so I just said the first thing that came into my head. I said, “Here, Winn-Dixie.”\u003cbr\u003e   And that dog came trotting over to me just like he had been doing it his whole life.\u003cbr\u003e   The manager sat up and gave me a hard stare, like maybe I was making fun of him.\u003cbr\u003e   “It’s his name,” I said. “Honest.”\u003cbr\u003e   The manager said, “Don’t you know not to bring \u003cbr\u003e a dog into a grocery store?”\u003cbr\u003e   “Yes sir,” I told him. “He got in by mistake. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.\u003cbr\u003e   “Come on, Winn-Dixie,” I said to the dog.\u003cbr\u003e   I started walking and he followed along behind me as I went out of the produce department and down the cereal aisle and past all the cashiers and out the door.\u003cbr\u003e   Once we were safe outside, I checked him over real careful and he didn’t look that good. He was big, but skinny; you could see his ribs. And there were bald patches all over him, places where he didn’t have any fur at all. Mostly, he looked like a \u003cbr\u003e big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.\u003cbr\u003e   “You’re a mess,” I told him. “I bet you don’t belong to anybody.”\u003cbr\u003e   He smiled at me. He did that thing again, where he pulled back his lips and showed me his teeth. He smiled so big that it made him sneeze. It was like he was saying, “I know I’m a mess. Isn’t it funny?”\u003cbr\u003e   It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a \u003cbr\u003e dog who has a good sense of humor.\u003cbr\u003e   “Come on,” I told him. “Let’s see what the preacher has to say about you.”\u003cbr\u003e   And the two of us, me and Winn-Dixie, started walking home.","brand":"Candlewick","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303295111397,"sku":"NP9781536214352","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781536214352.jpg?v=1767722331","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/because-of-winndixie-isbn-9781536214352","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}