Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls
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Book Reviews of Where the Red Fern Grows
Book Review: Where the Red Fern Grows
Summary: 5 Stars
Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls
In this coming of age story, a boy wants nothing more than 2 hunting hounds. Unfortunately, his family just can't afford to splurge on such a thing (what they really need is a new mule!). But he is so determined that he can't eat, can't sleep, can't do anything but think about how neat it would be to go 'coon-hunting!
This takes place in The Ozarks, out in Oklahoma. The family truly are hillbillies; they live in the country, are crazy poor, and are schooled entirely by their mother. But this does not reflect on the boy's values at all; he saves up for 2 entire years (at the age of 11-ish), doing anything he can think of to make a penny. What boy today could do such a thing?! Finally, he gets 50 dollars and sends away for 2 puppies.
He trains them himself, and goes hunting virtually every night. He even takes them to competitions, winning enough money for his family to move into town and get a real education! Unfortunately, one of the pups is just a little too stubborn; (hopefully I'm not giving anything away here) when he comes across a mountain lion, he just can't walk away. He barks a challenge, and pays for it with his life, but, in so doing, saves the boy from a probable death!
This book, like the movie, is a tear-jerker! But I don't know how accurate to the book the movie is; I haven't seen it in many many years (though I picked up the book because I remembered how great I thought the movie was). It's not so depressing because the dogs die (though that is a little sad), but because of just how loyal these dogs are; a virtue sadly lacking in humanity! Really, it seems a little odd that the author spends so much time talking about how intelligent and human-like they are. This comparison just doesn't do them justice; it's insulting to dogs everywhere!
Memorable Quote:
"Men," said Mr. Kyle, "people have been trying to understand dogs ever since the beginning of time. One never knows what they'll do. You can read every day where a dog saved the life of a drowning child, or lay down his life for his master. Some people call this loyalty. I don't. I may be wrong, but I call it love--the deepest kind of love."...
"It's a shame that people all over the world can't have that kind of love in their hearts," he said. "There would be no wars, slaughter, or murder; no greed on selfishness. It would be the kind of world that God wants us to have--a wonderful world."
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Book Review: Book Review on Where the Red Fern Grows
Summary: 5 Stars
Where the Red Fern Grows
"I suppose there's a time in practically every young boy's life when he's affected by that wonderful disease of puppy love."
That is one of the first sentences in the exciting book, Where the Red Fern Grows! This book will grab your attention the moment you pick it up. You will never want to put it down! Where the Red Fern Grows is about a young, adventurous boy who is longing for two hunting dogs. The boy's name is Billy Coleman. The Coleman family does not have enough money to put aside to pay for two good hunting dogs. So, Billy decides to save his money up to buy his dogs hiself! It takes Billy two years! Once Billy has enough money, he travels to Tahlequah, a small country town (that is 20-32 miles away), to pick up his dogs. Billy trains his dogs and starts hunting. He names his female dog Little Anne and his male dog Old Dan. This heartwarming tale of adventure and friendship tells how this loving threesome ranges the dark hills and river bottoms of the Cherokee country while they go through ups of glory and victory to downs of sadness and grieve throughout their lives.
The characters in this story each have their own personalities. Billy Coleman has the will to train his dogs to be the finest hunting team in the valley. His female dog, Little Anne, is a fairly small dog that has the brains a hunting dog needs and his male dog, Old Dan, has the brawn a hunting dog needs. Together they are practically inseparable and they make an incredible team. These three main characters are very loving and adventurous.
The friendship in Where the Red Fern Grows shows the main theme. Billy and his dogs have to have friendship in order to be successful hunters. And, in order to have friendship, you have to be loyal. Where the Red Fern Grows shows a lot of friendship and loyalty, which helps make it a wonderful book.
The Colemans, Billy's family, live in a beautiful valley far back in the Ozarks. The land that they live on is called Cherokee land. Soil is rich, black, and fertile, with many roots of trees such as redwoods and dogwoods living in it along with lovely flowers and plants. Their home is full of wildlife and adventure. The setting in Where the Red Fern Grows can be very exciting!!!
People who are interested in books with action in it should read Where the Red Fern Grows! I also recommend this marvelous story
to kids in grade four through grade eight. Rawls really keeps you on your toes with this action-filled book! You just have to read it!
Book Review: Influential, Amazing, Where the Red Fern Grows is a classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Billy, a young boy living in the Ozark Mountains during the times of the Great Depression, dreams of being able to own coonhounds and hunt raccoons. Through the extreme hardships and conditions many people faced at the time, Billy knew it wouldn't be easy to achieve his dream. He worked hard selling fruit and fish bait, since his Papa could not afford the dogs. After Billy finally gives his money to his grandfather to order the dogs and receives them, he fosters a friendship that will last a lifetime. Old Dan and Little Ann, Billy's brand new coonhounds, grow alongside their new best friend and master. Winning raccoon hunting contests, dealing with bullies, and persisting through a winter blizzard, Billy creates a bond with Old Dan and Little Ann that is as strong as any human friendship. Unfortunate events strike Billy's life, and he is stuck coping with deaths and losses. Yet in the end, he has reaped the greatest award anyone could reap, a friendship everlasting.
Before reading this wonderful book, I always approached reading with lazy eyes and with no enthusiasm. After delving into Where the Red Fern Grows, the fire for reading that had long been put out within me was finally re-ignited. It continued to grow, throughout my elementary years. I am proud to say that the catalyst for my growing interest in reading and writing was Where the Red Fern Grows.
Through the situations and the carefully placed lessons in this book, I learned that anyone, even I, can achieve goals and dreams as long as I continue to persevere and work hard for it. It is possible to do almost anything as long as your heart is in it. This statement Billy did prove, by working hard and saving money for two long years during a period in American history where fifty dollars was a fortune.
This book is definitely worth your time and your attention. If I could pick a book that has influenced me the most, this one would be the one I'd point to. The great details, the wonderful imagery, the heartwarming story, the seemingly perfectly sized paragraphs, and everything else about this book made it so appealing to me. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a spirit-lifter, a book that will cheer you up a little with its touching story. Where the Red Fern Grows is a must read.
Book Review: Where the Red Fern Grows By:Wilson Rawls Reviewed by:D. Kim Period:1
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is about a boy named Billy who really wants two coon dogs. After saving for two years, he finally gets enough money to buy two coon dogs. He names them Old Dan and Little Ann. He trained them everyday and soon won some fame in his little town. The test of his true skills appeared when Billy enters his dogs in a tournament against the finest hunting dogs in the country. In the end, he hunted and skinned more coons then any other dog owner and ended up getting first place. One day while hunting, after the tournament, Billy meets a mountain lion. His dogs rush in to save him as he was about to be attacked. Sadly Old Dan was cut open and died that very night. Little Ann was so stricken with grief that she also died a couple days later. The following spring, when Billy went to say good bye to his dogs because he was moving, he found a sacred red fern growing where his dogs were buried.
I liked this book because it was filled with all kinds of emotions. This book was filled with emotions from sadness to pure joy. A quote that shows sadness is, "I laid her head in my lap and with tear-filled eyes gazed up to the heavens." If you read the parts before you would be tear-stricken. I think this was the saddest point in this book because both of his dogs died in a sad way.
Another reason I liked this book is because I can relate to how Billy felt when he really wanted a dog. A quote that shows this is, "I was ten years old when I first became infected with this terrible disease." I was around eleven years old when I started wanting puppy. I tried making all kinds of deals with my parents to get a dog. I finally got one for a Christmas present from my parents.
My favorite part of the book is at the end of the story when Billy finds the red fern growing between the two graves. The book talks about a legend when a little Indian boy and girl got lost in a blizzard and froze to death. When they were found in spring a red fern was growing between the two bodies. It was said that only an angel could plant the seed of a red fern and that it was sacred. I liked this part because after the death of the dogs, this part at the end of the story cheers you up and gives you a happy ending and feeling.
Book Review: Non from Shanghai
Summary: 5 Stars
Where the Red Fern Grows
This novel, Where the Red Fern Grows, written by Wilson Rawls, is about an adventurous story of a boy's dream and how he made his dream come true himself. Billy, the main character of the novel, had wanted dogs his whole life. Unfortunately, his parents would make up all these reasons for him not to get dogs. One day he was lucky, and found an advertisement about a dog hound selling dogs at a cheap price. To get his dream accomplished, he worked for 2 years making fifty dollars of money by selling the fishermen crawfish, minnows, and fresh vegetables; during the berry season, he can sell all the berries he picked at Grandpa's store. After Grandpa had ordered the dogs, it took weeks for the dogs to arrive at the station in town. Billy could not wait, so he decided to walk to the town himself which took over a day. When he got there, he noticed many things that he had never seen before, and was not used to what was done in town.
The love and relationship between Billy, Little Ann, and Old Dan is portrayed really well, therefore, this book is a great book for readers who love dogs. The greatest part of the book, is when Billy tries really hard to accomplish his dream, and works harder than ever the get Little Ann and Old Dan. This shows how desperate Billy was to get a dog, and collecting his own money at his age is a really hard thing to do.
He got Little Ann, the little girl dog, and Old Dan, his brave boy dog. Billy trains them to hunt coons by bringing them to the rivers near his house. They learned how to swim and find the trails of coons, and became excellent hunting hounds. Though the sizes of his dogs were small, but had wonderful powers on hunting that was only found on them. They could trace the weirdest coon trick that no other dog could, and had surprised many people in the novel. They participate in a tournament for coon hunting hounds, and choose the winner by the participant hunts the most coons with their dog's skills. If Old Dan and Little Ann were not the two dogs that Billy got, he would not have been very successful. Old Dan and Little Ann are like `Peanut butter and Jelly', phrase used in the movie `Ice Princess', if one of them are not there, they can't hunt or live.