Kate DiCamillo Tale of Despereaux
Because of Winn-Dixie

Kate DiCamillo was born in Pennsylvania on March 25th. She moved with her mother and older brother to a small town just west of Orlando, Florida when she was five years old. There she grew up to be a writer. She went to college in Florida, worked at Disney World, and a lot of other jobs. In the mid-90s, she moved to Minnesota, at the other end of the thermometer from Florida. She worked at a book warehouse, where she spent time reorganizing the children's books, eventually reading them and falling in love with the way they were written.

Her first book, Because of Winn-Dixie, won a Newbery honor. The following year, The Tiger Rising, was nominated for the National Book Award. Two years after that, The Tale of Despereaux received the Newbery Medal. In 2005, the movie version of Because of Winn-Dixie was released. The latter half of 2005 saw Mercy Watson to the Rescue, a humorous novel for beginning readers, published by Candlewick. It was the first of a series, which now numbers four. On February 14, 2006, a tale about a china rabbit was published: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

Today, Kate DiCamillo continues to work and write in Minnesota, traveling frequently to speak to fans around the world.

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