There are those hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman. Such was the fate of Chiaroscuro. His heart was broken. Picking up the spoon and placing it on his head, speaking of revenge, these things helped him to put his heart together again. But it was, alas, put together wrong.

Her 2003 novel The Tale of Despereaux was inspired by a friend's son Luke Bailey who asked her to write about an unlikely hero with "exceptionally large ears". Adaptations
In 2005 Because of Winn-Dixie was released as a film by 20th Century Fox. Life
Born in Philadelphia DiCamillo suffered from chronic pneumonia.

DiCamillo is also known for the Mercy Watson series of picture books illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. Katrina Elizabeth "Kate" DiCamillo (born March 25 1964) is an American writer of children's fiction at all levels usually featuring animals.