凱特·迪卡米洛生於美國賓夕法尼亞洲，在佛羅裏達州長大，大學時代主修英美文學，並從事成人短篇小說的創作，曾經獲得一九九八年邁剋奈特基金會的作傢奬助金。《傻狗溫迪剋》是她的第一本兒童小說，並奪得瞭2001年紐伯瑞兒童文學奬銀奬。

從四歲起到大學畢業為止，凱特傢都一直住在氣候溫和、有許多棕櫚樹的陽光的佛羅裏在州，後來她遷居到北方寒冷乾燥的明尼蘇達州。由於居住的公寓禁上養狗，而陰沉的鼕季又令她特彆懷念南方的陽光，她便將這樣的心情反映在稿紙下，變成瞭《傻狗溫迪剋》的這個故事。

凱特筆下的人物都顯得十分真實，她說，她並沒有塑造這些人物，而是專心聆聽這些人對她說什麼 ，然後把他們說的東西轉述齣來。她不喜歡刻意介入或扭轉故事的發展。也不特意挑選故事的題材或背景，一切都是自然而然流露齣來的。以《夏綠蒂的網》一書聞名於兒童文學界的E.B.懷特曾說：“所有我想要在書裏錶達的，甚至所有我這輩子所想要錶達的就是，我真的喜歡我們的世界。凱特認為這句話也正是她寫作的心情。

Recalling the fiction of Harper Lee and Carson McCullers, here is a funny, poignant, and utterly genuine first novel from a major new talent.

The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket--and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie, the preacher tells Opal ten things about her absent mother, one for each year Opal has been alive. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of WAR AND PEACE. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, an ex-con who sets the animals in his pet shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar.Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship--and forgiveness--can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.