Kate DiCamillo

By: E. B.

• Kate DiCamillo is the author of the award winning children's book, because of Winn-Dixie.

• She has also written the Tail of Despereaux, The Miraculous Tales of Edward Tulane, and Mercy Watson.

Where she lives?

• She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised in Clermont, Florida and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota

• She loves to eat but cannot cook!

• She is not married and has no kids but she is an aunt to 3 wonderful kids Luke, Roxanne, and Max

Childhood friend

• When she was little she had a poodle named Nanette.

• She loved to dress her up especially in a green tutu and then a disco dancer.

• She was a very sick kid.

• When they moved to Florida she was suffered from chronic pneumonia.

• She used books to see what the world was like when she was always trapped inside.

Writing• Writing has always

been a dream of Kate's but she didn’t start till she was 29

• She got a job at a book warehouse and she was surrounded by tons of children's books it wasn’t long until she fell in love with them.

Because of Winn-Dixie

• She wrote because of Winn-Dixie because she was homesick for Florida [she lived in Minneapolis at the time] she wanted a dog but the apartment she livee in didn’t allow them.

Rewards• Kate says that the most

rewarding part about being an author is getting letters from kids.

• She said one day a kid wrote and said, “I didn’t like books but after Winn-Dixie I love them!” that’s what makes it all worth while.

Honor• Kate Dicamillo won the

Newberry award for Because of Winn-Dixie

It was a dream come true for her she said nobody was surprised as she was, “After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole days walking into walls.” “Literally," she says. "I was stunned. And very, very happy."

Luke Bailey • One day a her best friends son

asked her to write a story for him her is there conversation” 'Well,' I said, 'I don't normally write stories on command.' 'But this is a story that I know you would want to tell,' he said. 'It's about an unlikely hero. He has exceptionally large ears.' 'What happens to this hero?' I asked. 'I don't know,' he said. 'That's why I want you to write it down, so you can find out.” So the Tail of Desperaux was made.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

• One year she got a toy rabbit for Christmas

• I brought him home, placed him on a chair in my living room, and promptly forgot about him. A few days later, I dreamed that the rabbit was face-down on the ocean floor - lost, and waiting to be found.

• So Edward Tulane became a book

• Some people may think well what does an author do all day? Does she write a book a day sit home and think about her next chapter? No

• She said her goal is to write 2 pages a day 5 days a week she says

"E. B. White said, 'All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world,' " she says. "That's the way I feel too."

What she wrote her pride and joy

Inspiration • These are Kate's inspiring

words to writers to be everywhere “If you want to be a writer, write a little bit every day. Pay attention to the world around you. Stories are hiding, waiting everywhere. You just have to open your eyes and your heart.”

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