Holiday Break Reading Challenge Activity #12

Here's what our challenge was for today:

Think back on all the books you've read dealing with animals. What are your favorites. You can choose one or more than one. It doesn't matter to me. BUT, please make these REAL animals. No werewolves or other fantastical creatures.

This was an easy one, because I talked about it in an earlier challenge.  That book would be:

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

 
From Goodreads:

Because of Winn-Dixie, a big, ugly, happy dog, 10-year-old Opal learns 10 things about her long-gone mother from her preacher father. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal makes new friends among the somewhat unusual residents of her new hometown, Naomi, Florida. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal begins to find her place in the world and let go of some of the sadness left by her mother's abandonment seven years earlier.

With her newly adopted, goofy pooch at her side, Opal explores her bittersweet world and learns to listen to other people's lives. This warm and winning book hosts an unforgettable cast of characters, including a librarian who fought off a bear with a copy of War and Peace, an ex-con pet-store clerk who plays sweet music to his animal charges, and the neighborhood "witch," a nearly blind woman who sees with her heart.

This book is so quietly sweet.  I loved Opal.  The relastionship between her and her daddy (The Preacher she calls him) starts of more distant, but it's brought together by the sweetest dog ever - Winn Dixie.  I read this aloud to my students several times.  They loved it even though it wasn't an action packed plot - they saw things in it that I had missed.  If you haven't read this book you must.

Click here to see what other people in the challenge had to say!