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135th out of 24,513 books
—
93,520 voters
Where the Red Fern Grows
by
Wilson Rawls
Billy, Old Dan and Little Ann -- a Boy and His Two Dogs...
A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee country. Old Dan had the brawn, Little Ann had the brains -- and Billy had the will to train them to be the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too. And close by was the strange and w
...moreMass Market Paperback, 272 pages
Published
May 9th 2000
by Yearling
(first published 1961)
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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
Let me say first that some love this book and to be fair I never read it except to get an idea of the story. You will find in my books low ratings for Black Beauty, The Yearling, Old Yeller and any books that have the "pain of life motif" in common. By the way this includes Cold Mountain. Look up my review and you'll see I try to give recognition that it's well written but just not a book I can like. And these ratings are how I feel and what I think of these books. Some will say how they love th...more
Jul 10, 2007
Melinda
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
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 violence in the 4...more
I think that a book that inspires someone to violence in the 4...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 br...more
Mar 23, 2011
Mariel
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
snoop dogg
Recommended to Mariel by:
the twilight bark
Yet another review from me today, AND one that will have senseless introspection AND childhood stories. Run away, run away! (I'm attempting to chase away my mental cloud of stupidity by writing jumbled reviews on goodreads. Like that has ever worked before.)
I don't remember much about this book. I remember that I most gave a shit about dogs. I wouldn't have cried (sorry if this is a spoiler! but not sorry enough not to post it. Unless a dog reads this and is upset) over Bridge to Terebitha and a...more
I don't remember much about this book. I remember that I most gave a shit about dogs. I wouldn't have cried (sorry if this is a spoiler! but not sorry enough not to post it. Unless a dog reads this and is upset) over Bridge to Terebitha and a...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Jul 13, 2008
Marci
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
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 and his hun...more
What most people do not know is that this classic tale of a boy and his hun...more
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
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.
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 understand and...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 understand and...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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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.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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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 lik...more
Clear as a bell I remember the night I finished it, right before (or quite after, as was more lik...more
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 planted the...more
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 perfect for mi...more
This was an all around great book. Not sure how I never managed to read it in school...I just didn't. I sure wish I had though. Being an extreme animal lover this book was very easy to relate to but so so sad. I knew before I started reading it that it was a sad book (by what everyone had told me). Yet when I was getting to the end I was somehow hoping the words would magically change and that it wouldn't end the way it had to end, but when I had finally finished it I was actually ok with it, ev...more
SPOILER ALERT!
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The dogs die. WHY do they always do this to dogs in children's books? to quote Gordon Korman's delicious farce, No More Dead Dogs "the dog always dies. Go to the library and pick out a book with an award sticker and a dog on the cover. Trust me, that dog is going down." For those sick of getting attached to lovable animals just to have them die in AGONY, try Kate DiCamillo's...more
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The dogs die. WHY do they always do this to dogs in children's books? to quote Gordon Korman's delicious farce, No More Dead Dogs "the dog always dies. Go to the library and pick out a book with an award sticker and a dog on the cover. Trust me, that dog is going down." For those sick of getting attached to lovable animals just to have them die in AGONY, try Kate DiCamillo's...more
I first read this book as a kid, and have reread it many times since. An amazing story of loyalty, love and friendship, it makes me cry every time I read it. Highly recommended, especially if you have ever experienced the love of a dog.
I didn't read this as a kid and have always wished I had.
I finished today and it was great; sad, of course, but I knew it would be. It was one of those books that makes me wish I could have known the main character and lived in his world. I wonder what kids who have to read it for school think of it.
I finished today and it was great; sad, of course, but I knew it would be. It was one of those books that makes me wish I could have known the main character and lived in his world. I wonder what kids who have to read it for school think of it.
Re-reading this book currently due to the fact that I am helping to lead "Literature Circle" discussions for my daughter's class. One of my all time favorite books.
Praying that they don't make me read the saddest part out loud to the students. I have a very firm childhood memory of my parents reading this book out loud to my brothers and I and having to trade off who read that section for all of the tears being shed over it.
Finished reading the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. A boy's love of hi...more
Praying that they don't make me read the saddest part out loud to the students. I have a very firm childhood memory of my parents reading this book out loud to my brothers and I and having to trade off who read that section for all of the tears being shed over it.
Finished reading the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. A boy's love of hi...more
Oh my goodness. I read this for school and immediately need to say that I was completely disappointed. I was expecting some all the way through deep book that inspired me. I understand why some people like it but nothing there was really great except the end. The end was play but it just didn't hit it for me. In a way that book was sexist. All the women were ignored and stereotypical and weak and all the men were their superior. I may be wrong but I think that taking care of and feeding a family...more
This is a heart pounding book that was writen flawlessly.
I read the novel, “Where the Red Fern Grows”. The main character in this book is Billy Coleman. The other characters that frequently participate in the novel are Billy’s mother, father, and grandfather. Billy Coleman lives with his family on a farm in the plains on Native American territory. This book is the coming of age story about a ten year old boy who wants nothing more than to have two hound dogs so he can go coon hunting. Billy comes from a poor family and they cannot afford to purchase...more
Okay, I only read this because my daughter had to read it for school. She was balking at it, and I asked if it would be easier if I read it with her, and she said yes, so, I read it.
There's a thing that books do sometimes, where they make reference to things about the world in a sort of this-is-how-it-is-and-we-all-know-it sort of way where it feels like the author expects the reader to nod knowingly. I find it *very* difficult to read, especially when it refers to a world, or way of looking at...more
There's a thing that books do sometimes, where they make reference to things about the world in a sort of this-is-how-it-is-and-we-all-know-it sort of way where it feels like the author expects the reader to nod knowingly. I find it *very* difficult to read, especially when it refers to a world, or way of looking at...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Meh.
This is one of those books, I suspect, that you have to fall in love with as a kid, or a parent of a kid, because just reading it for the hell of it as an adult doesn't really connect you. Or maybe I just don't have a heart to be warmed, that's also possible.
I missed the boat on having this assigned to me when I was in elementary school, so I finally got around to reading it now as an adult. Honestly, one of the things that drove me crazy was that I had no idea what time period I was in. I k...more
This is one of those books, I suspect, that you have to fall in love with as a kid, or a parent of a kid, because just reading it for the hell of it as an adult doesn't really connect you. Or maybe I just don't have a heart to be warmed, that's also possible.
I missed the boat on having this assigned to me when I was in elementary school, so I finally got around to reading it now as an adult. Honestly, one of the things that drove me crazy was that I had no idea what time period I was in. I k...more
Apr 04, 2013
Emma W.
added it
This beautiful, heartwarming, touching story about Billy and his two hound dogs by Wilson Rawls is a story you will never forget. This book contains many lessons and motifs such as work hard for what you believe in, never give up, and the meaning of love. Ever since Billy was little he had a love of hunting. In order to be a successful Coon hunter, he would need hunting dogs. For years he saved all the money he collected hunting and picking berries in an old K.C baking powder can. Billy had his...more
This is a book that I remember reading in either fourth or fifth grade and then following it, we watched the movie. I wasn't sure whether or not to classify it as a children's book, but I figured if I read it at that age I was still considered a kid. I can still remember every detail of this story because it was so sad! Billy wants to get a couple coonhounds but doesn't have enough money. He works really hard and finally comes up with enough so his dad orders two for him. Billy brings home Old D...more
Where the Red Fern Grows is Wilson Rawls’s classic tale of man and his best friend (or best friends, in this case). Set in the Ozark Mountains of northeastern Oklahoma, the story of Billy Coleman and his love for his dogs takes place during the Great Depression era. A ten-year-old Billy is so desperate for a pair of Redbone Coonhound dogs that he works and saves his money for two years in order to pay for them himself. After his lengthy endeavors, he makes his way into town to acquire the dogs a...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| who is better little ann old dan? | 4 | 14 | May 15, 2013 08:11pm | |
| Sad? Fantastic? | 39 | 129 | Apr 29, 2013 01:35pm |
Wilson Rawls was born on September 24, 1913, in the Ozark country of Scraper, Oklahoma. His mother home-schooled her children, and after Rawls read Jack London's canine-centered tale Call of the Wild, he decided to become a writer.
But the Great Depression hit the Unites States in 1929, and Rawls left home to find work. His family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1935, and he came home each fal...more
More about Wilson Rawls...
But the Great Depression hit the Unites States in 1929, and Rawls left home to find work. His family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1935, and he came home each fal...more
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“After the last shovel of dirt was patted in place, I sat down and let my mind drift back through the years. I thought of the old K. C. Baking Powder can, and the first time I saw my pups in the box at the depot. I thought of the fifty dollars, the nickels and dimes, and the fishermen and blackberry patches.
I looked at his grave and, with tears in my eyes, I voiced these words: "You were worth it, old friend, and a thousand times over.”
—
52 people liked it
I looked at his grave and, with tears in my eyes, I voiced these words: "You were worth it, old friend, and a thousand times over.”
“I buried Little Ann by the side of Old Dan. I knew that was where she wanted to be. I also buried a part of my life along with my dog.”
—
35 people liked it
More quotes…
Feb 26, 2013 06:53pm
I like your insight that it allows the boys to cry an...more
Feb 26, 2013 06:55pm