Where the Red Fern Grows

A classic that began an interest in reading for my son. I purchased this for a Grandson who is already a reader. It’s a story well worth reading.

Definitely a great classic, I was assigned to read this book in the sixth grade. And it is still a favorite. I actually bought this for my son he was mad to have to read a “ primitive” book 😂. But since I made him start it was nice to go by his room a few days later and see him laying in his bed reading instead of the phone or video game system. And now he is telling me the story as he reads, “they’re going to get that raccoon.” I wonder if he will cry when he get to the climatic point of the story…

I first read this book in 5th grade and it gutted me. To this day I don’t think I’ve ever read a more heartbreakingly beautiful book. I UGLY cried for 5 days straight. I reread it as a young adult, thinking it would be a nostalgic read but not as emotional..I was wrong. I bought a copy for my kids to read but at 44 I am still not ready for a 3rd read. Will forever be my favorite book.

I loved this book and I will continue to love this book with all my heart. This book is indeed a timeless classic. The writing is not at all complex and it flows very fluently, unlike Old Yeller which is written in a weird way of wording that does fit the way words were spoken back then. The story is plotted very well. I felt very connected to the characters during the entire book, and, at the beginning, I really wanted Billy to get the dogs because I really know how bad he wanted them. I like how the author describes the boy’s wanting of dogs as if it is an ever growing disease or injury for the boy. This book is just simply so good. Despite the ending, that made me cry ugly tears, I give it 5 stars! I wish I could give it 6 stars actually! And, honestly, I liked it much better than Old Yeller, which surprised me.

Still one of the only books to bring me to tears! Wonderful story of love, friendship, and coming of age.

I personally have never read this book. Not sure how that happened, but I'll chalk it up to fate intervening. However, my oldest son has recently read it and written up his first book report, which he would like to share on here for other kids considering picking this up. Be forewarned that there are spoilers throughout this review, because my son was writing a book report, so if you'd rather not know what happens in this novel, please do not read any further. In "Where The Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls, a boy named Billy saves up $50.00 for two years to buy two hunting dogs. In this story, Billy is determined to train his dogs, Little Ann and Old Dan, to be the best. Nothing would stop Billy from achieving his goal. He started his journey in the middle of the night, alone and walked 30 miles to pick up the dogs. After a year of training Old Dan and Little Ann, he started hunting every night and then he took the coon skins to his grandfather’s store to sell. Once he spent 2 days chopping down a tree his dogs had treed a coon in. He would not leave the tree until he got the coon. Two mean boys challenged Billy to hunt down a ghost coon. After a long chase, the dogs treed it, but Billy did not want to kill it. There was a bad fight with the mean boys’ blue tick hound and Billy’s dogs., One of the brothers took Billy’s axe and fell on it and bleed to death. The other brother ran away in shock. Billy was sad about the bad accident. Billy’s grandfather entered his dogs in a big hunting contest where they spent a few days competing against other dogs. In the final day, there was a blizzard while they were hunting and the dogs nearly froze to death circling a tree they had chased the coon in to. Just like Billy, the dogs would not give up. Billy went home with 2 trophies and $300.00 prize money. Billy continued to hunt. One night the dogs came up against a mountain lion, who attacked them and Billy. Billy’s dogs saved his life but were severely injured. Billy’s father helped get the dogs home and Billy’s mother helped stitch up Old Dan. Old Dan died soon, and Little Ann found his grave and died there. In the spring, rare red ferns grew at the grave site. . Billy grieved and asked God why the dogs had to die. He did not want any other dogs but Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy’s parents tried to make him feel better. His parents had always dreamed about moving to the city so the children could attend school. His father showed Billy the box of money he had been saving from all the coon skins he sold and the contest money. Thanks to Billy’s great love for his dogs and his success and determination, the family was able to move to the city. In this book, I learned to never give up no matter how hard it gets in life. I also learned to set a goal and try to achieve that goal.

good book for preteen

Where the Red Fern Grows is about a man revisiting his memories as a child. The book starts when he wants a dog. He has to save up his money for two years. When Billy finally saves up all of his money to get his two Redbone Coonhounds, he starts training his dogs to be the best hunters around. Suddenly Billy gets a little too good at hunting, it’s gotten him in trouble. When tragedy hits him, he wonders if he will be able to move on. This story is about the love of dogs, and the love that dogs give. Where the Red Fern Grows is a very moving story about a man who grew up in the countryside (The Ozark Mountains) and how he saves up money to buy two Redbone Coonhounds. I would really recommend this book to read. The characters are always showing so much emotion and love towards each other. The author makes you feel like you traveled back in time to your childhood and transforms the scene around you to the countryside. The description of the setting is so realistic, you could almost hear the birds around you and smell the grass. I think that people would enjoy this book because it makes you think about your own life if you have ever had a pet and you have a special relationship with it, the book reminds you of your relationship with it. For example, the book is about a boy and his dogs. It reminds me of my relationship with my cats. The characters were so realistic I had to stop and tell myself that this was a fictional story. Billy (the main character) acts so much like someone I know. The book has so much vivid detail that each chapter makes you think that you are in the book. When the story ended, it was a perfect seal to the story. The book answered all of my questions and left such a big impression on me. I hope you enjoy it! I would vote this book a 5/5.

The story line is of the maturing of a boy to a young man in the wilds of the USA, by wanting and then training dogs to hunt coons (of Davy Crockett hat fame). I am not giving any more away. Read it.

The Short story -: When leaving work in Idaho's Snake River Valley, Billy Colman sees a pack of dogs attacking a stray coonhound. He chases the pack away and takes the stray home with him so he can nurse it back to health. Once it has recovered, Billy sets it free knowing that it will return home. The experience reminds Billy of his childhood growing up in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma. He wants a dog, and his parents offer to get him a puppy from a neighbour’s litter. He is very specific, however, and tells them he wants two coonhounds, but his parents tell him that they don't have enough money. One day, he comes across a magazine advertisement for a dog house in Kentucky which breeds Redbone Coonhounds and sells them for $25 each. Determined to get dogs, he goes to work performing odd jobs such as selling vegetables to local fishermen and manages to save the $50 he needs with the help of his grandfather. However, since it takes two years to do so, his grandfather writes ahead to see if the dog house will honour the ad. They do so, and the price has dropped so the two puppies will only cost $40. Since the mail buggy does not deliver any living being, Billy's dogs are to be delivered to the freight depot in Tahlequah. His family is poor and does not have transportation, so he finds his own way to get to the depot and chooses to go straight through the hills. He picks up and leaves with his puppies, which are a male and a female. He also decides to buy something nice for each member of his family with his extra $10 before heading back home; he buys a pair of overalls for his father, some dress cloth for his mother and a bag of candy for his sisters. On the way back home, he spends the night in Robber's Cave on Sparrow Hawk Mountain. There he builds a fire and plays with the puppies. While trying to sleep, he hears a noise that he realizes is the cry of a mountain lion. In the morning, he continues on. He comes to a sycamore tree and sees the names Dan and Ann carved inside a heart in the bark and decides to name the puppies Old Dan and Little Ann. To train Old Dan and Little Ann, Billy traps a raccoon with the help of his grandfather and uses its pelt to teach them to hunt. During their training, their personalities become apparent: Old Dan is brave and strong, while Little Ann is very intelligent. Both are very loyal to each other and to Billy. On the first night of hunting season, Billy takes Old Dan and Little Ann out for their first hunt. He promises them that if they tree a raccoon, he will do the rest. They tree one in a large sycamore, which Billy had previously nicknamed "The Big Tree". As he tries to call them off, they look at him sadly and he cuts the tree down, which takes him two days and costs him blistered hands. In the end, when he's about to give up his effort, Billy offers a short prayer for strength to continue. A strong wind starts to blow and the tree falls. Old Dan and Little Ann take the raccoon down. Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann go hunting almost every night. As months go by, he brings more fur to his grandfather's store than any other hunter, and the stories of his dogs spread throughout the Ozarks. One day, he and his grandfather make a bet with Rubin and Rainie Pritchard, that his dogs can catch the very known “ghost coon". Rubin and Rainie set out with him to see if Old Dan and Little Ann can do so. It leads them on a long, complicated chase, and Rubin and Rainie want to give up. But Billy is determined. Finally, when they have it treed, Billy refuses to kill it. Rubin then orders his dog, Old Blue, to attack Old Dan, who is smaller; and Rubin start to beat Billy to stop him from interfering. Little Ann then helps Old Dan, and together they are killing Old Blue; Rubin runs to attack them with an axe, but he trips on it and kills himself. A few weeks later, Billy's grandfather enters him into a championship raccoon hunt, putting him against experienced hunters and the finest dogs in all the country. Before it starts, he enters Little Ann into a contest for the best-looking dog, where she wins and is given the silver cup. On the fourth night of the hunt, Old Dan and Little Ann tree three raccoons, making it to the final round. The sixth night, they tree one before a blizzard hits. Billy, his father, grandfather, and the judge lose sight of the dogs. When they finally find them, Billy's grandfather sprains his ankle .They build a fire, and when Billy's father chops down a tree, three raccoons jump out. Old Dan and Little Ann take two of them down, and chase the third one to another tree. In the morning, the hunters find them covered with ice circling the bottom of a tree. The last raccoon wins them the championship and the gold cup. The hunters also present them with $300 of jackpot money. Billy's mother and sisters are overjoyed with the prizes. He keeps up his hunting. One night, however, Old Dan and Little Ann tree a mountain lion, and it attacks. Billy is horrified, and with his axe he enters the fight, hoping to save his dogs, but they end up having to save him. Eventually, they defeat the mountain lion, but Old Dan is badly wounded, and Billy soon finds his intestines in a bush. He dies late that night. Billy is heartbroken, and Little Ann loses the will to live, stops eating, and dies of grief a few days later on Old Dan's grave. Billy's father tries to tell him that it is all for the best, because with the money they received from winning the championship hunt, they can move to town. He goes to visit Old Dan and Little Ann's graves and finds a giant red fern between them…..

Kleiner Spoiler aber ich muss es loswerden, das Ende des Buches war für much emotional damage ×1000. Aber ansonsten eine schöne Geschichte über die liebe eines Jungen zu seinen Hunden.

they are both Xmas presents so have not been opened yet

A classic youth novel! Will make a great gift!