India Opal is a girl and she is living with her father in the camping car. Her father is a preacher and he is working in a church in their area.

One day, Opal went to grocery store Winn-Dixie to pick up some tomatoes and everything.

When she got to the store, the staffs of the store were busy for shouting and yelling at something. They were hollering at a dog. The dog was running around the store and messing everything. The dog was heading toward her and she found the dog was messy too. The dog was very dirty and smelled awful. He even had a bald part without any fur on his back. The workers were shouting like "We have to call the pound," so Opal decided to be the dog's friend. 

She lied like "Don't call the pound. He's my dog.".  and she called him like "Come on, Winn-Dixie" for him to come close to her. She named him like that because she had no time to think about his name, so she had to tell them that the dog's name was really Winn-Dixie.

While she and Winn-Dixie went along to her home, Winn-Dixie gave her a smile. While he smiled, he showed his teeth just like human. 

When she got home, she asked her father (she always called him the preacher) if she found a unfortunate, she could help him. The preacher said "Of course, you can help him". So she showed the dog to her father. The preacher wouldn't permit her a dog, but when he studied the dog, he found Winn-Dixie was in a terrible state. He finally decided to take care of him. Plus he liked Winn-Dixie's big showing-teeth-smile. 

Opal loved Winn-Dixie so much because she felt like he's in the same situation with her. She have felt despair that her mom left her and her dad. Her dad have avoided to tell anything about her mom to her. She felt like he was just like turtle who would pull his head into his shell when he got in trouble. And she had no friend. The children about her age were afraid that if Opal would tell their bad behavior to the preacher so they would not get along with her.

Opal was feeling lonely in Naomi as she didn't have any friend and she didn't like her dad. She didn't even call him dad. She would call him preacher instead of dad. But ever since she met Winn-Dixie, she would get to have many friend because of Winn-Dixie.

When she walked Winn-Dixie street, they stopped by a pet store. There was a fancy red leash in the store. She didn't have enough money to buy it so she offered the clerk that she would work in the store. Otis the clerk didn't like that but he finally agree with it because of Winn-Dixie. Otis told her that she couldn't because a parrot in the store used to panic when it saw a dog. But it flew down on the head of Winn-Dixie.

Winn-Dixie let Opal have another friend. Winn-Dixie ran over to the small library in the town. There was an old lady in the library and she was a librarian. Her name is Miss Franny. When she saw Winn-Dixie's figure, she was very frightened and shouted like "The bear's back!". When she was young, she asked her father that she wants to have her own small library. And her father was rich, he acturally built a little house for her daughter. While she was sitting and reading a book, a bear went into the library and stood still in front of her. She gave a big book by her to the bear, and the bear went back to the forest with that book. She didn't forget the experience, and so she thought Winn-Dixie was the bear. Miss Franny have been keeping that library for a long time. She has no family and friends. Opal asked Miss Franny to be her friend and she said Okay. 

Opal got some new friend because Winn-Dixie. Winn-Dixie went church with Opal and her dad, and he got a mouse in church. People in church applaused and were surprised as they saw that a dog caught a mouse for the firs time in forever. Then the children in the church got interested in Winn-Dixie and she got to make some friend in the church. 

Opal made another old friend Gloria Dump. The old lady was living in old house and she was almost blind. The children living near were calling her a witch.

But she was wise, she told Opal some good advices. 

Opal got to know Otis was a criminal. When she got to the store to work, she saw Otis playing his guitar for the all pets in the store. All kind of pets including rabbits, snakes, turtles and birds were listening still out of their cage. The music was so good that Winn-Dixie went into the crowd and interrupted playing and then Otis stopped playing and all the animals were hopping and running crazy about the store. The pets stopped after Otis got to start playing guitar again. Otis said he freed them by himself because he didn't want them to be in prison. Everyone knew Otis was a criminal and he was in prison except Opal. 

Opal told Gloria Dump that Otis was a criminal. Gloria Dump told her to do not misunderstand him and Opal had to think about him as she knew him. She said Opal had to value him as a good guitar player and how he was good to animals. 

Opal asked Otis why he was in prison. Otis said that he was good for playing guitar every day. To play guitar in front of the people was all his life. One day police officer insisted him to not to play the music in the park because he was interrupting peace of the place. He didn't follow the command and he hit the officer, and he finally got to be in prison. Since then he couldn't play the music in any place, so he could only play music in the pet store.

Miss Franny the librarian gave a can of candy to Opal. She said the candies were very special. It tasted good but also had some sad feeling. It tasted sad. That was a special point of the candy. She said the candy maker had a very sad story. The candy maker lost all of his family, he got to know he had to make candies for sad people just like him. She said only person who knew sadness can taste sadness.

Opal gave the candies to the people all she knew. They all could taste sadness. Opal, Otis, dad and Gloria Dump said that it tasted good and sad.

Miss Franny was living lonely in the small library and she had no friend.

Otis lost his life and pleasure because he couldn't play music any more.

Gloria Dump was regreting her life and she was hanging bottles in her tree. She called them ghosts of faults in her life.

And Dad. Dad was in prison of regreting. He lost his wife and he missed her more than anything. He didn't say anything about her to Opal. 

Opal had a similar sadness. She also missed her mom so much. And she didn't like her dad. She wanted to know about her mom but he didn't say anything.

So Opal planned party. Opal asked Gloria to have a party with music for Otis so he could play music in front of people again. Opal invited all the people she got to know because of Winn-Dixie and they all said they'd like. 

They were all together in the party at Gloria's house but all of a sudden it started to rain. And the thunder came to roar. So they packed all the stuff in the garden and brought them into the house. 

But they found they lost Winn-Dixie. The dog was found nowhere. Opal knew Winn-Dixie had a great fear about rumbling noise of thunder. Winn-Dixie went crazy while thunder rumbling. 

Opal went out to find Winn-Dixie with her dad. They went everywhere they knew but the dog was nowhere. Dad told Opal to went back to the house.

Opal said him that she didn't belive he gave up Winn-Dixie. She hollered at him that he'll gave up the dog just like he gave up her mom.

Then dad cried at last. Dad said to her that he liked the dog just like Opal. He loved her so much and he didn't want to miss her but he couldn't help. He never have forgot her and he wished she would come back but he knew it won't happen. And he finally said that he was wrong that he told Opal that her mom left everything. She left everything but Opal. She left Opal for him and he said he love Opal so much. Opal reached him and hugged tightly. Now Opal undertood her dad. They could made up because of Winn-Dixie.

When they got back to the party, they found Winn-Dixie was sleeping in the house. Gloria said when they sang a song in the kitchen Winn-Dixie got out of under the bed to join the music. The dog was hiding under the bed while he was afraid of thunder. 

And everything got to be good because of Winn-Dixie. 

Winn-Dixie has a good friend and home. 

Opal and Dad made up and they'll never be alone again.

Otis could play music again. Miss franny and Gloria made friends too. Gloria could get beautiful stories read by Opal from Miss Franny's library.

All the good things were because of Winn-Dixie.