BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE
By Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick, 2000
Today was LOVE TO READ day in our local elementary school, and I was invited to participate. Kids were encouraged to bring slippers, a cuddly, and their favorite book to school for a celebration of the written word. My job was to engage the second grade for forty minutes in a conversation about writing and reading. The teachers suggested I bring a copy of my own favorite book to read from. I tucked BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE in with my supplies and set off for the school as cool as a February icicle … because walking into a room of eighty-six second graders at the very end of a busy school day isn’t the least bit scary when you have Kate DiCamillo—quite literally—in your back pocket.
“My 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 …”
Who wouldn’t want to snuggle in and hear India Opal tell how it all happened? I suspect that if I had read the second graders this opening line they would have begged for more. As it turns out, the completely fabulous second graders at LOVE TO READ day were not interested in anything but TRACKING TRASH! These eighty-six slippered second graders (along with their eighty-six furry friends) were astoundingly well-behaved, incredibly insightful with their questions, and wonderfully attentive to my answers. When our time ran out, they clapped like I was a rock star. And when I told them I was leaving a signed copy of my book in their library, they cheered some more.
I love LOVE TO READ day. I love second graders. And I love Kate DiCamillo and BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE. A gal couldn’t ask for better backup.