Kate DiCamillo is the rock star of the local children’s book author community. The Library of Congress appointed her the 2014-2015 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Among other awards DiCamillo has won the Newbery medal. She has had books turned into movies — The Tale of Despereaux One of my favorite things about Kate is how much she supports Little Free Libraries. She will periodically post on Facebook that she has dropped some signed copies of her book into random LFL boxes around the Twin Cities. I haven’t found one yet, but I’m going to keep looking! DiCamillo has so many great books at different reading levels that it is hard to keep up. Where Mercy Watson is a favorite for transitioning to longer books, many of her other books are aimed at upper grade school. She has also written a comic-style book, Good Rosie. Find her books on our Kate DiCamillo Bookshop.org List*. Several of Ms. DiCamillo’s books have been made into movies or will be movies soon. We link to Amazon** for ease, but some of these are streaming on other platforms: There are three movies currently in production that you could read now and watch later. The Mercy Watson books are ideal transitions into chapter books. They are as amusing for adults as they are for children. The chapter are short and the characters are engaging. Most of her other children’s books are aimed at middle grades. *This article includes an affiliate link to Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. Family Fun Twin Cities receives a small commission on books ordered through our link. If you want to find a specific local bookstore to support, find them on this map and they’ll receive the full profit off your order. Otherwise, your order will contribute to an earnings pool that will be evenly distributed among independent bookstores (even those that don’t use Bookshop). Learn more here. **This article also contains affiliate links to Amazon. We make a small commission when purchases are made through our links to Amazon. As an Amazon affiliate, FFTC earns on qualified purchases. 
and Because of Winn-Dixie
*. She’s worked with Children’s Theatre Company on Mercy Watson and the Minnesota Opera on Edward Tulane.
Little Free Libraries
Books by Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo Stories for Family Movie Night
Stream Now for Movie Night
Read Ahead for Future Movie Nights.
Mercy Watson Series for Reading Aloud
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