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| Where the Red Fern Grows | 
 enlarge | Authors: Wilson Rawls, Wilson Rawls
Publisher: Yearling
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy New: $3.13
You Save: $3.86 (55%)
New (49) Used (28) Collectible (2) from $2.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  1209 reviews
Sales Rank: 864
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 4.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 0440412676
EAN: 9780440412670
ASIN: 0440412676
Publication Date: September 1, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Author Wilson Rawls spent his boyhood much like the character of this book, Billy Colman, roaming the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma with his bluetick hound. A straightforward, shoot-from-the-hip storyteller with a searingly honest voice, Rawls is well-loved for this powerful 1961 classic and the award-winning novel Summer of the Monkeys. 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 dogs. This unforgettable classic belongs on every child's bookshelf. (Ages 9 and up)
Product Description
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 wonderful power that's only found...
An exciting tale of love and adventure you'll never forget.
From the Paperback edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1204 more reviews...
 Fantastic book! October 26, 2003
45 out of 48 found this review helpful
Billy lives in the Ozarks and wants 2 hunting dogs. He saves for 2 years, then sends away to get 2 puppies. Once the puppies arrive - Old Dan and Little Ann - Billy begins to live his dream, never realizing that more is happening than he is aware of.
This is a wonderful story of the love a boy has for his dogs & the freedoms of childhood. However, Billy has some experiences that take him from childhood into being an adult. Some he is aware of but others are more subtle.
Despite the story being about a boy, girls can relate to a lot of the emotions as well. Adults can more fully appreciate the more subtle storylines.
I highly recommend this book but suggest that you keep plenty of tissues handy.
 Still with me May 7, 2004
24 out of 36 found this review helpful
I had to read this book in 5th or 6th grade. The passion the protagonist had for dogs and 'cooning has stuck with me. Twenty years later and I still find myself thinking of the book.
Another Great Book March 23, 2000
21 out of 26 found this review helpful
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls tells the story of a young boy named Billy growing up in the rural Ozark Mountains during the depression. Billy's family is poor but proud of the simple life they live. Billy's dream is to own a pair of coon hounds. His family does not have the money to buy Billy any hunting dogs. So Billy sets out to work and save enough money to buy the dogs himself. His Grandfather encourages him and even agrees to keep Billy's plan a secret from his parents. He works at all sorts of odd jobs and saves every penny he can get his hands on in an old tin can. By the end of the summer he has enough money to buy a pair of pups. He sees an advertisement in a magazine for quality coon hound pups and his grandfather helps him to order them. Billy has to walk to town when his dogs arrive. On the way home they have an encounter with a cougar. Billy names his pups Old Dan and Little Ann. He works hard to train them to hunt. Billy enters a hunting competition and after enduring a number of set backs he wins the gold cup. Through all of his adventures with Old Dan and Little Ann Billy learns many valuable lessons about life. The author, Wilson Rawls, brings to life the time and place of his story in Where the Red Fern Grows. I enjoy hunting and working with dogs in the field, so I was able to relate to Billy's love of his dogs and the land. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to any reader.
Overwhelming Puppy Love February 27, 2007
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
I read this book years ago when I was in elementary school, but now, nearly 40, I decided to relax while listening to the audio book. I sat at the kitchen table, assembling a jigsaw puzzle while the narrator once again described a young boy so desperate for hunting hounds that he saved for two years, and by the time he walked the 30 miles to pick up his hard-earned hounds, his feet scratched from picking berries to sell for 10 or 15 cents a batch to raise the incredibly high goal of $50 for his precious dogs.
This story is such a great tale of true grit, determination, hard work and the idea that all things are possible if you set yourself to the task. The things the boy learned and experienced with his hounds and his own sense of loyalty to his family and his dogs are the kind of character building stories that every child, and every 40-year-old should experience.
I confess I've always admired dogs ... their loyalty, dedication and wish I could emulate the character that a good dog naturally exhibits. This is one of a group of stories like Lassie and Ol' Yeller about dedicated dogs.
Buy it for every child that you hope will develop true grit.
Much more than a story about a boy and his dogs. December 5, 1998
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
Although it has been nearly two weeks since I finished listening to the tape of Where the Red Fern Grows, I am fighting to choke back the tears even now. I plan to order several copies for Christmas gifts.Yes it is a wonderful epic adventure story about a boy and his dogs and their heroic devotion to each other. And yes, it is so well read that you live every moment right alongside Billy and Old Dan and Little Ann. But, like most great novels, it is much more. I am a dog lover, a college teacher, and a retired field grade Army officer. I loved the book not only for the captivating story, but also for the slice of Americana that it captures and preserves. It is a time capsule of a way of life, of what made this nation great. The breadth, depth, and magnitude of the love, devotion, responsibility, integrity, courage, and tenacity of the characters is awesome. It was a simpler time, when modest, humble, ordinary people were heroes in their own right, but could not imagine being any other way. If this story doesn't burst your heart with joy and then rip it out with painful agony, you are dead and worse. If you think you're dead, it will awaken and electrify feelings you didn't know you had. If you are looking for answers, you will find them all in this simple little tale of perfectly ordinary and unassuming heroes of epic stature.
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