Kate DiCamillo was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She published her first book, Because of Winn-Dixie, in 2000, and has since published nine other children's novels, 13 chapter books, three picture books, and four short stories. She has won numerous awards for her literature, including two Newbery Medals. Although DiCamillo's work is classified as children's literature, she says that she writes for both adults and children.
While Because of Winn-Dixie is a work of fiction, a large part of it is based on DiCamillo's own life. In her Scholastic website biography, DiCamillo states that as a child, she moved with her mother from Philadelphia to a town in Florida similar to the one in...
