Flora And Ulysses

Throughout the 2000s and beyond, DiCamillo has been influencing the course of middle-grade fiction. She achieves standards of quality that are often absent from stories aimed at young readers, building stories that are compelling and complex. At the same time, she is able to write in a way that allows her audience, older elementary children, to fully engage with the material. In her novels, DiCamillo addresses issues common to this age group, such as parent-child relationships, divorce, the emergence of romantic love, and the discovery of independence. DiCamillo’s stories seek to instill confidence and hope in children who feel lost or abandoned. DiCamillo’s debut novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, follows a young girl whose mother is absent but whose life is made better by a dog she meets. Similarly, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures features a girl whose relationship with her mother has been fractured since her parents’ divorce. They begin to heal with the help of a squirrel with superpowers named Ulysses.

Many of DiCamillo’s other stories personify an animal and turn it into a hero, including The Tale of Despereaux, which sees a mouse become a hero to save a princess, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which personifies a lonely China-glass rabbit. This personification makes difficult topics approachable and reminds children that their experiences are shared by others. Furthermore, DiCamillo regularly features an animal protagonist or deuteragonist who forms a close bond with a child who is suffering. Often, these animals represent a trait that the child needs to awaken in order for them to rise above their current challenge. For Flora, she is deeply affected by her parents’ divorce and ostracization from peers. With Ulysses to guide and inspire her, Flora reconnects with her parents and makes many new friends.

DiCamillo ultimately provides comfort and hope to her readers by telling stories about children finding themselves and achieving independence despite their struggles. She is the author of numerous middle grade novels, including The Beatryce Prophecy, Beverly, Right Here, The Magician's Elephant, The Tiger Rising, and Raymie Nightingale. She makes her work approachable by incorporating illustrations, using short chapters, and providing sufficient context when using words that may be unfamiliar to readers. DiCamillo’s novels are so influential among her audience that many of them have been adapted into films. She strives to inspire children to read and develop a love of literature in the process. It is important to note that DiCamillo does not view her novels as exclusively aimed at children; rather, she feels she never lost her inner child and that anyone can enjoy her books, regardless of age.