Where the Red Fern Grows

by Wilson Rawls

book data

22,923 ratings, 4.09 average rating, 2,133 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		42%
4		33%
3		18%
2		4%
1		1%

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published

May 9th 2000 (first published 1961) by Yearling

binding

Mass Market Paperback, 272 pages

setting

The United States

isbn

0375806814 (isbn13: 9780375806810)

description

Author Wilson Rawls spent his boyhood much like the character of this book, Billy Colman, roaming the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma with his bluetic...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 25,885)

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08/25/07

Rebecca rated it:

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

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

2 comments

11/28/07

Josephine rated it:

bookshelves: kidlit

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 5th grade, and I have to admit I was completely dismayed that we had to read a "boy book." I struggled the whole time to distance myself from Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann, probably flipping my permed hair and muttering "this is *so* stupid" and "who cares about a couple ...more 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 5th grade, and I have to admit I was completely dismayed that we had to read a "boy book." I struggled the whole time to distance myself from Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann, probably flipping my permed hair and muttering "this is *so* stupid" and "who cares about a couple of dumb dogs?" under my breath about 20 times. But I remember sobbing at the end. Despite all my efforts, Wilson Rawls managed to draw me in to his story and make me care. How could you not?

Years later, Kevin and I drove cross-country and listened to Where the Red Fern Grows on audio book (*expertly* read by Anthony Heald I have to say). This time, with a fresh MFA under my belt, I listened to the language and storytelling. And I won't mince words: the book is a masterpiece. A classic coming of age story, told from the point of view of the adult looking back at his boyhood, but with all the intimacy and honesty and exuberance of youth. It's a story with joy, peril, hard truths. It's a story we can all relate to, even if we never had dogs or lived in the Ozarks or went hunting in our lives. It's a story about growing up.

I won't say more. Just go read it. Even if you're all "grown up" like me and you've read it before. Read it quietly to yourself in an afternoon, listen to the audio book, or read it aloud to a child. Get lost in the story. Cry at the end. It's worth it.

"When I left my office that beautiful spring day, I had no idea what was in store for me. To begin with, everything was too perfect for anything unusual to happen. It was one of those days when a man feels good, feels like speaking to his neighbor, is glad to live in a country like ours, and proud of his government. You know what I mean, one of those rare days when everything is right and nothing is wrong." (the opening lines of Where the Red Fern Grows)

This review appeared on my blog, Please Come Flying.(less)

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11/14/08

Robert rated it:

recommends it for: NOONE!

VERY BAD!!

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

26 comments

10/25/08

Meme rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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07/03/08

Marci rated it:

(review of isbn 0440412676)

bookshelves: childrens-chapter-books, young-adults

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...more

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10/29/07

Evan rated it:

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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1 comment

03/30/09

Kyra The AWESOMEFULICOUS RENT FAN!!! I LOVE YOU MARK!!! rated it:

I love this book. IT is a heart warming and very touching book about a boys love for his dogs. It made me laugh, it made me cry,it even made me say omg whats going to happen next. It is my all time favorite.

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07/01/08

Michelle rated it:

bookshelves: my-faves

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 adul...more

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1 comment

10/15/08

Kendra rated it:

Read in November, 2008

recommends it for: everyone

We finished it! I read this aloud with my kids and as I read through the final sentences, we were all in tears. I am not talking teary eyes, but body rocking sobs. My six year old did not stop for almost twenty minutes. When he was finished he said it was the greatest story he had ever heard. My eight year old wanted to meet the author and thank him for such a great book. I loved this book and recommend it to everyone. Just read it with a box of tissues nearby.

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

06/11/08

Peter Wakeman rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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08/29/07

Silvercharmer rated it:

bookshelves: young-adult

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 ...more

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11/16/08

jOrDaN rated it:

Loved the story when i read it, made me cry, very hart-warming story about this country kid who saves up to buy puppies, and then spends time with them teaching them how to hunt "coons" and the dogs and him relationship grows throught their adventures together untill when a mount lion unexpectedly attacks the boy the two hounds fight for his life causing one dog to die from flesh wounds and the other from loneleness dies and are buried in a place where a rare red fern grows like god pl...more

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1 comment

07/10/07

Melinda rated it:

(review of isbn 0385323301)

recommends it for: everyone who has a heart

I read this book in 4th grade. One day I was waiting for class when an obnoxious boy decided it would be a good idea to take it. I informed him that it was my favorite book in the whole wide world and if he didn't give it back that he'd be sorry. He then threatened to tear the book in half. With that I walked over to him, hit him over the head with my cast (I had broken my wrist a few weeks prior), took my book and calmly walked away.

I think that a book that inspires someone to viole...more

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05/23/09

Synesthesia Gibson rated it:

bookshelves: books-i-liked-better-when-i-was-you

This is one of those books I liked so much better when I was a kid. Reading it in junior high school it was the story of a little boy who wanted hunting dogs so he can hunt raccoons. He worked hard, saved up money, got his dogs, encountered a wild cat, taught the dogs how to hunt, and you had a poignant tender story of a boy running wild and happy in the Appalachians until tragedy strikes. I liked it when I was a kid.

Reading this book as an adult on the other hand, there were several...more This is one of those books I liked so much better when I was a kid. Reading it in junior high school it was the story of a little boy who wanted hunting dogs so he can hunt raccoons. He worked hard, saved up money, got his dogs, encountered a wild cat, taught the dogs how to hunt, and you had a poignant tender story of a boy running wild and happy in the Appalachians until tragedy strikes. I liked it when I was a kid.

Reading this book as an adult on the other hand, there were several things that annoyed me. First of all, the fact that the father would have taken the money his kid worked hard for to buy a donkey when he earned the money himself with no help from his father. There's the fact that his sisters aren't named in the book. His cutting down of an old beautiful sycamore tree just to catch a raccoon.
But the main thing that bothers me, besides a kid being killed with an ax was the gruesome way the dog's died and the mother's explanation for it.
Now, if the dogs had to die so the family could stay together in the city, was there any reason for the dogs to die so horribly? One dog had his guts ripped out, the other dog died of grief. Couldn't they have just gone in their sleep or something?
Now before I get a Greek chorus of people talking about what a bleeding heart liberal I am, I still can't understand for the life of me why in so many books a child's beloved pet has to die in order for the child, especially a boy to grow up. I'm still traumatized from losing my rabbit several months ago, and that was a deeply depressing death. If I had a child who had to watch our pets pass away there's no way I'd say "God took them." even if I was religious because you'd just turn a child against God and with good reason.
All that ranting aside, as an adult, I really don't like this book as much as I did when I was a kid. It's just too hokey for me.
Plus I just hate the idea of killing those raccoons. I just know a bunch of folks will go, you're a tree hugging liberal hippy, America hating, down home country loathing Communist, terrorist supporting swine for not liking this book, but what can I do?
I liked it when I was younger. (less)

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04/21/08

Wilsraff rated it:

(review of isbn 0786273127)

bookshelves: favorites

recommends it for: Anyone

This book is part of the fabric of my youth, it is the story of character, devotion, family, love, hard work and community. It is a beautiful tale about a boy's journey to find two dogs and the bond they formed once all together. It also tells a lot about life in the mountains. There is some violence and tragedy, but these make the story all the more poignant and real (be prepared to sob.) I love this book and would recommend it to anyone. I first read it in 5th or 6th grade.

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1 comment

06/22/07

Melinda rated it:

(review of isbn 0385323301)

bookshelves: bookclubselection

Read in February, 2006

I originally read this book in the 7th grade and had thought at that time that it was the greatest thing since the Little House on the Prairie books. I suggested that we read it for our bookclub and really regretted it. As an adult it felt distinctly like a kids story-- specifically written for little boys. It's a good book but it's just not for me at this point in my life. If I had a kid, I would love for them to read this. I just didn't really enjoy reading it for myself.

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12/23/08

Cayr rated it:

Read in December, 2008

This is a classic that I should have read much earlier in life, but it was only recommended to me now. I think there are a lot of good lessons for children in it: such as how if you make a plan and stick to it, you can accomplish whatever you dream to accomplish. It teaches about the bond between canines and humans, and delves into how rewarding that can be.

Rawls style reminds me a little of Twain. He writes from the boy's point of view and he stays true to the characterization. Yo...more

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01/02/09

julie added it (review of isbn 0553247816)

bookshelves: my-childhood

Read in September, 1987

For as long as I live, the title of this book will fling upwards the windowblinds of a first grade classroom, illuminating a large classroom with windows around the perimeter, and shedding light on a large, square rug cornered on the right and and to the north and south by butter-yellow cubbies. A curly-haired, 26-year old first grade teacher sits on her chair--either the blonde oak chair that usually keeps her matching desk company, or the big-person sized version of the chairs we sit in at our...more

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05/20/09

Estella rated it:

Read in May, 2009

First read this in 6th grade. I cried a lot. This time around...I cried a lot, I'm afraid to say. Rawl's writing pushes all my crying buttons. The language is elegant, but warm. And once the story gets going, it's one event after another, full to the brim with tear-inducing self-sacrifice and loyalty. I'm a sucker for that sort of stuff. But I never get the impression that I'm reading a sappy book. There's too much grit and realism in it for that, the language too restrained. It's perfe...more

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03/13/09

Benjamin added it

This young boy that comes from a family with little money wants him a set of coonhounds so bad but his parents cant afford it so he bust his but trying to make money anyway he can. He saves up enough money for two red bone coonhounds one male that he named big red and a female that he named Lil Ann. His granddad orders them for him but the only problem is the mail wouldn't deliver them. So the boy gets up earl in the morning and walks to the town where his dogs are. He had some extra money left ...more

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quotes from this book

"What I saw was more than I could stand. The noise I heard had been made by Little Ann. All her life she had slept by Old Dan's side. And although he was dead, she had left the doghouse, had come back to the porch, and snuggled up by his side." More quotes...