Scholastic Student Reporter Jakob May interviews Kate DiCamillo after the premiere of Because of Winn-Dixie at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana, on October 23, 2004. (Photo: Steven Ehrenberg) Kate DiCamillo's Recommendations The books and album below come with a thumbs-up from the Because of Winn-Dixie author. You can click on the authors' names to read about them and the books they wrote. Books: • Ribsy by Beverly Cleary • The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis • Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis • 21 Balloons by William Pene Dubois • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson • The River by Gary Paulsen • Wringer by Jerry Spinelli • Abel's Island by William Steig Music: • Enlightenment by Van Morrison Click here for more about Kate DiCamillo!

Because of Winn-Dixie is the best-selling book about an adventurous girl, the friendly dog she adopts, and how they touch the lonely lives around them. On Friday, February 18, Because of Winn-Dixie hits the big screen.

Scholastic Student Reporter Jakob May caught up with Winn-Dixie author Kate DiCamillo at the Heartland Film Festival last fall, where the movie premiered. Read on to find out DiCamillo's favorite books, the music she listens to while writing, and much more.

Scholastic News: What inspired you to write this story?

Kate DiCamillo: The weather in Minnesota. It was so cold and I wanted to go back to Florida where I grew up. Also, I wanted a dog and couldn't have one, so I made one up.

SN: How did you like the movie?

DiCamillo: I think it's beautiful. Did you like it?

SN: Yeah. Did you think the actors played the characters that you imagined?

DiCamillo: It's funny, because what was in my head isn't what's on the screen, but what's on the screen is so powerful that it replaces what was in my head. So I guess the simple answer is yes.

SN: What were some of the differences though between what you imagined and what you saw?

DiCamillo: Well, Opal having red hair, that's one simple one. Jeff Daniels is I think amazing, but I had a dark-haired, taller, leaner guy in my mind for the preacher. Cicely Tyson is perfect. That's exactly the way Gloria Dump was in my head. Who else? Dave Matthews—you know, [his character] is totally different than what I imagined, but it doesn't matter, because Dave Matthews takes it and makes it into something that is just exactly right.

SN: When did you start writing?

DiCamillo: When I was 29. And I'm 40 now, so I've been at it for about 11 years.

SN: What was your favorite book when you were 10?

May talks to DiCamillo on the red carpet just after watching the premiere of Winn-Dixie on October 22, 2004. (Photo: Steven Ehrenberg)

DiCamillo: When I was 10? It's so hard for me to pick a favorite book because there are so many books that I just absolutely love that I couldn't just say one. At 10, it probably would've been 21 Balloons by William Pene Dubois. I also loved Beverly Cleary's Ribsy.

SN: I just finished Because of Winn-Dixie, and The River by Gary Paulsen. But I had left in the middle of that book to read your book so that I could get it done before the movie. It's a good book though. It was worth reading.

(laughter)

DiCamillo: Have you read any of Eva Ibbotsen's stuff? She's a British writer and I just finished reading a couple of her books and I think she's fabulous. Very funny.

SN: Who are your favorite authors?

DiCamillo: Right now, off the top of my head, Christopher Paul Curtis [who wrote] The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 and Bud, Not Buddy—wonderful books. Katherine Patterson, Bridge to Terabithia. Again I've got so many favorites. Jerry Spinelli, Wringer, I love that book. I love Jerry Spinelli. I think he's fabulous. Bill Steig—he wrote a wonderful novel called Abel's Island. If you ask me three minutes later I'd give you a different list.

SN: Do you like to write with music or do you prefer quiet?

DiCamillo: Good question. Nobody really ever asks that question! In, let's see, four, almost five years that I've been getting asked questions, you're only the second person to ask that. And I think it's an important one. I always write with music. It takes me awhile to figure out what the right piece of music is for what I'm working on. And then once I figure it out that's the only thing I'll play.

SN: What were you listening to when you wrote Winn-Dixie?

DiCamillo: Van Morrison's Enlightenment. Over and over and over.

May talks to actor Jeff Daniels after the premiere. Daniels played Preacher, the father of the main character. (Photo: Steven Ehrenberg)

SN: Did you help with the movie?

DiCamillo: I did. The script was already written. And then when Wayne Wang, the director, came on board, he wanted to rewrite the script, so that's when he pulled me in. And I didn't know anything about writing a screenplay, but somehow I ended up rewriting the screenplay.

SN: I read somewhere that the script just came straight out of the book.

DiCamillo: A lot of it did. And there's also some good stuff that got added. There's that wonderful thing at the end—I laugh every time I hear it—when Mr. Alford says, "I've been to plenty of parties without pickles—but not one of them was any fun!" That's new. There are wonderful things that got added. And it works well, I think.

SN: How do you think the movie reflected your book?

DiCamillo: I think it captures the feeling of the book very, very well. You can probably answer that just as well or even better than I could. Because being involved in the making of it and then being the person who wrote the book it's hard to be objective. But you just read the book and then you saw the movie. And so do you think it feels the same?

SN: Yeah.

DiCamillo: I know you said last night that there were differences—and in particular, if you just read the book for the first time and then came right in and saw the movie I think that those would be pretty big—but I think that it remains true to the spirit.