The book Winn Dixie vs. The movie Winn Dixie

The story is very heart warming. There is a 10 year old girl in the story named Opal along with a big, clumsy dog that needs someone to love. Opal and her father, which is a preacher, move to a new hometown because he has a new church. Through many experiences, Opal meets many new residents in the town. Some are more unique that others. As she makes friends, along with her new friend Winn Dixie, she begins to feel like she is part of something special. She forgets about her sadness and loneliness that has resulted from her mother abandoning her and her father, and she begins to enjoy life and the people around her again.

For the most part, the book and the movie were alot alike. The movie gave me a closer look at how the characters looked and the town where they lived, whereas, I had to visualize the characters and town when I read the book. However, there were some differences that I noticed. In the book, the story begins at the Winn Dixie store where the dog is causing alot of confusion. In the movie, the story begins with Opal coming to the building that used to be a convenient store. Her dad is preaching. She prays that she will make some friends. Then her father sends her to the Winn Dixie. I feel that some events were added to the movie to make it more interesting than the book such as, the Dewberry boys acting like secret agents while Miss Franny is talking to Opal and Amanda about Littmus W. Block. There are also differences in the way the characters are portrayed. The landlord is much more forceful in the movie by continuously demanding that they get rid of the dog. Opal's father gives her a harder time about giving the dog away than what was represented in the book. More information is given in the movie about certain events such as, how she got her name. She was named India because her father was a missionary in India and Opal was her mother's name. The ending is also different in the movie than in the book. At the end, they were looking for Winn Dixie, and they couldn't find him, so everyone began singing a hymn, and Winn Dixie began howling outside the front door. Everyone became excited because he came back. They begin to sing songs again. In the book, the story ended with Gloria, Franny and Opal singing. Sweetie Pie heard somebody sneeze, and they discover that Winn-Dixie is hiding under Otis's bed. I enjoyed reading the book and watching the movie. I love the story. My daughter watched the movie with me, and she loved it, especially the dog.