In the book “Because of Winn-Dixie”, one similarity is that Opal was generous and  brought all different types of people together.  Another similarity is that Winn-Dixie had an irrational fear of thunder.  The last similarity is that all the characters both in the book and the movie had the same names
There were also differences between the book and the movie.  The first difference was that there was no character named Mr. Alfre in the book.  The second difference between the book and the movie was that in the movie the Dewberry brothers told Opal about Carson, Amanda’s brother drowning.  Whereas in the book, the Preacher told Opal about Carson. Finally, the last difference is that the Preacher didn’t go to the party in the movie, but in the book, he did go.