Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls
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I loved chatting over email with Amy Schimler about her dog Beans (see yesterday's interview), and it got me thinking about my favorite dog book of all time. We had to read Where the Red Fern Grows in 5t...more
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This is a book many people read as children or as teenagers. I read it last weekend because it was recommended to me as "a brief return to childhood" that would probably make me cry.
What makes this novel a return to childhood is the tone of nostalgia throughout. It is a frame story in which an old man recalls his poor childhood in the Depression-era Ozarks and his experiences with two beloved hounds, Old Dan and Little Ann. The young man, Billy, saves his earnings for two years...more
What makes this novel a return to childhood is the tone of nostalgia throughout. It is a frame story in which an old man recalls his poor childhood in the Depression-era Ozarks and his experiences with two beloved hounds, Old Dan and Little Ann. The young man, Billy, saves his earnings for two years...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone.
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Read in May, 2005
recommends it for:
10+
This book can easily be the best book i have ever read. The book is about a young boy you wants to buy a pair of hunting dogs, but does not have enough money. After a while he saves enough and buys them, and names the dogs Big Dan and Little Ann. The book is great for many people becasue you can relate youself to the characters no matter who you are. The story flows very easily and reads very well. This book is one of those kinds of books that once you start, you just cant put it down, and you k...more
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Like everyone else who has reviewed to date, I enjoyed this book as a child so much. It has sat on my bookshelf for years with the wear of a book read and enjoyed by a child. When I was 9/10, I remember sobbing at the end and just really embracing the books as a favorite. I thought it was so wonderful that I wanted to expose my cousin to it. I promised her I would reread it while she read it after Christmas. Unfortunately, it didn't stand the test of time for me and I'm sure part of it is m...more
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recommends it for:
Everyone
This book belongs on that special list of YA books that stay with you for the rest of your life. You remember them, remember how they changed your perspective, how they made you feel, and how they helped you grow up. This book in particular belongs at the top of that list for me, right alongside Bridge to Terebithia, and I consider it a mandatory title for anyone who is in the process of growing up.
Clear as a bell I remember the night I finished it, right before (or quite after, as was more...more
Clear as a bell I remember the night I finished it, right before (or quite after, as was more...more
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There are a handful of books we read as children that so completely capture our hearts we cannot and would not ever forget them. Where the Red Fern Grows is such a book. An elementary teacher read this book to my class when I was in about third grade, beginning for me a love that has seen me through many personal readings, with even more readings to my own students through the course of my career as an elementary teacher.
What most people do not know is that this classic tale of a boy and his...more
What most people do not know is that this classic tale of a boy and his...more
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I remember this book from back in my childhood. It is about a young boy who earns enough money to get some hunting dogs, he trains them catch racoons and they go hunting everyday.They build a strong bond, and one day a friend of Billy challanges him and his dogs to a hunting match. The three try their hardest but end up hunting an animal that was more than they bargained for. They treed a mountain lion that caused a fight and injured the dogs. The dogs die at the end of the story, but Billy buri...more
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Read in January, 1990
I read this book in sixth grade and cried my twelve-year-old heart out. Another book I share with my sixth grade students. What I find is that this book in particular allows the boys in my class to get emotional about a story and be able to talk about it together and normalize it. It is almost a contest for them of who got most upset. One student said he finished it on a plane ride home and that the flight attendant kept coming up to him asking him if he was alright. I've had many students tell ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
Upper Elementary / MS
This beautiful novel has stood the test of time. It is the story of Billy, a poor farm boy living in the Ozarks who saves for two years to buy a pair of hunting dogs. The dogs are his pride and joy and Billy pours his heart into training, hunting, and finally competing with them. After years and many heartwarming adventures together, the dogs are killed while protecting Billy. After a struggle, Billy finds a way to cope with his grief and loss.
I'm not much of a dog fan, and not a hunter ...more
I'm not much of a dog fan, and not a hunter ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2006
recommends it for:
anyone
I read the book where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. This story is about a boy who lives in the mountains and lives to hunt. He sets traps and hopes to catch what he can. But all he every wants are to hunting dogs for him self. I would classify this book under realistic fiction seeing that it could happen in real life.
The main characters are Billy who is the boy and the two dogs old Dan and little Ann. The climax of this story would have to be when Billy gets his two dogs, because he is r...more
The main characters are Billy who is the boy and the two dogs old Dan and little Ann. The climax of this story would have to be when Billy gets his two dogs, because he is r...more
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"In Where the Red Fern Grows, Billy and his precious coonhound pups romp relentlessly through the Ozarks, trying to "tree" the elusive raccoon. In time, the inseparable trio wins the coveted gold cup in the annual coon-hunt contest, captures the wily ghost coon, and bravely fights with a mountain lion. When the victory over the mountain lion turns to tragedy, Billy grieves, but learns the beautiful old Native American legend of the sacred red fern that grows over the graves of his...more
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in my school as a 5th grader, we were privileged to have had a singularly special teacher who read the book aloud to us over several weeks in the spring. this time with her voice, our listening together, and that book signaled a beginning/end event for all students at that school. those younger looked forward to hearing her read, those older looked up those days with a winsome sadness. the reading aloud and this particular book tied us all together; we experienced and envisioned (in our own ways...more
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Read in February, 2001
recommended to Shannon by:
I can't rememberrecommends it for: anyone-- especially young adults
I read this book with my 7th and 8th grade ESL students and I think it is a beautiful love story-- the love of a boy and his dogs. It is sad and I cried when I read this book alone and with with my students (they all laughed at me), but it is so sweet. The young man who tells the story (it has been too long so I can't remember his name), lives in a small cabin in the woods of Kentucky (in the Appalachians-- I think Kentucky) with his parents and siblings. The family is poor and he has to save...more
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recommended to Alyssa by:
Mrs. H. ( you know who you are) lol
recommends it for: EVERY ONE exept babies and todlers. (people who can read pretty well)
recommends it for: EVERY ONE exept babies and todlers. (people who can read pretty well)
This book is an amazing book for all ages and i'm very proud to own it.. This book always leaves a "Heart weltering" feeling, as i call it because it's so hard to put into words.. The book review kind of gives away the ending so DON"T READ IT if you want "Where the Red Fern Grows" to make it on your best book list.. lol.. and this book kind of makes you want to live back then too... as if you were billy sister if you are a girl, and billy if you are a boy... And why i r...more
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Read in October, 1996
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recommended to Tom by:
My third or fourth grade teacher
recommends it for: Anyone
recommends it for: Anyone
My teacher read this book to our class in, I think, 3rd or 4th grade. It's such a wonderful book about growing up--in this case, in the Ozarks--and it's real, sometimes raw, often heartbreaking, and honest in a way that many kids books simply aren't. And, of course, by the end of the reading neither the teacher nor any of us kids had a dry eye. My teacher's reaction to this book was particularly important to me--it demonstrated how literature can move one to tears, and really humanized our teach...more
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You know how everyone you know says they cried after they watched "Old Yeller"? Yeah, I didn't cry nearly as hard watching that movie as I did when reading this book...worse yet, we read it for an English class in jr. high--yeah, that's a stigma an already geeky girl needs on her middle school resume!
Regardless of that, this is still one of my all-time favorite books. It does a great job of portraying loyalty, stamina, work-ethics, and love at a level that children and adults can u...more
Regardless of that, this is still one of my all-time favorite books. It does a great job of portraying loyalty, stamina, work-ethics, and love at a level that children and adults can u...more
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Read in January, 1995
recommends it for:
animal lovers
I absolutely loved the experience of reading this book. I remember telling my mother how much I loved the dogs and her response of trying to remind me it was just a book and it wasn't real because she knew what happened in the end. Perhaps she was right to try to protect me. I was so invested in this book that when the dogs died I was absolutely devastated. In my experience as a reader until that point, beloved characters did not die. My system was in shock, and for a while I hated the book for ...more
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