Customer Reviews

Where the Red Fern Grows

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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.

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.

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.

I hate it when a reviewer gives the story away, so I won't. Safe to say, though, that when I was a little girl, I read a book in one night, under the covers with a flashlight. That book, of course, was WTRFG. I just re-read it again after 20 some-odd years. I am surprised to find that I cried as hard as I did as when I was 9. I was once again, so engrossed that I read it in one night, ignoring the fact that I had to work the next day. It is a beautiful story, a timeless one. A childhood favorite. I am amazed that it didn't win a Newberry Honor medal, or some other kind of award. This is one of the books that helped instill a loving of reading at an early age. A GEM, don't miss it. A story about a young boy on the brink of manhood and his love for his pups....whom he worked so hard for. You will laugh and cry, at age 9, 29, or 99. Buy it for your kids, and rea it for yourself.

This book is without a doubt the most phenominal book I have ever read. The first time I read it, I fell in love with it. I think I've read it twelve times. I'll never get tired of Old Dan and Little Ann. The story is so touching and adventurous and loving and heartbreaking all at the same time, you can't help but feeling like a wet towel when you are done. You get so involved. I recommend this book to anyone of all ages. If you don't, you will be missing out on one of the all time great books. Trust me, you will enjoy.

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.

" Where the Red Fern Grows" is written very powerfully and maybe a little too detailed at the ending for me. I remember my 4th grade teacher would have to go out in the hall when she would read the ending to her class, because it was so heartshattering. But there are good times with Billy Coleman and his two dogs Little Ann- small but smart, she can track any coon in the Ozarks; and don't forget Old Dan- big and tough he may be, he doesn't let go of those coons. Okay, let me give you a brief tour on the book. Billy Coleman lives in the Ozarks with his three sisters, mom and dad. He has had puppy fever for quite a while, so he saves up money to buy two hounds with the help of his faithful grandpa. He trains those dogs, making them the best in the valley. They get so experienced with their hunting skills, grandpa enters Billy and his dogs in a coon tournament. Does he win? Sorry, you'll have to find out for yourself and read the ending. Billy and his two dogs will surely find a way into your heart.

"Where the Red Fern Grows" is a book about a young boy named Billy who loves dogs and coon hunting. Living in the Ozark Mountains, he has always wanted two coon hounds. However, he has never gotten them because his family is poor. One summer he gets the determination to go out and earn enough money to buy himself two coon hounds.When he finally gets the two hounds, he names them Little Ann and Old Dan. Billy goes out and hunts with them every night to make them the best and he ends up entering them in a contest. In the end, a fatal accident occurs while Billy is hunting that will leave you in tears.
This book is probably the best book I have ever read. It is a story of determination,love, and bravery. It is also a very detailed and descriptive book filled with similes, metaphors, and personification. I loved this book and I'm sure you would too. I would recommend this book to anyone of any age.

Where The Red Fern Grows By Wilson Rawls The book Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls is an amazing book that will real you in. It is about a young boy named Billy Coleman who lives in the sparsely settled mountains of Ozarks with his mother father and sisters. It is perfect coon country, and because of this all he wants in the entire world is to get two coonhounds. He asks his parents, but because they don’t have much money, they tell him that they can’t afford them. But he is determined. He had found an ad for coon pups and started a secret found saving every cent that he makes for two, years keeping it in a can in his barn. After he gets enough money he goes to his grandfather store and orders his dogs. When the dogs finally arrive he sets off on foot to a town 20 miles away. On his journey home he finds names for his two dogs carved into a weathered tree, Old Dan and Little Anne. He spends the rest of his time training and hunting with his to redbone hounds having many adventures along the way hunting coons all around the mountains. His dogs prove to be the best around in a tournament where they receive a first prize. Billy has everything that he could have wanted until one tragic night when his dreams came crashing down. Through all of Billy’s hunting adventures that he has with his dogs he really starts to discover who he is and wants to be. He strives to show that he is a man to his parents and his grandfather. He wants to be tough, before he is really ready. Because of his adventures he grows up faster then normal spending long nights alone in the dark forest, and even being witness to a horrible accidental death of another local boy. He has no choice but to act like a man. He grows up very fast. I thought that this book was very exciding and entertaining. It is one of those books that when you start reading it you just can’t stop. I highly recommend it to any one who has not read it no matter what the age. It is an easy book to read and it is very powerful.

Where the Red Fern Grows By Wilson Rawls

If you read Where the Red Fern Grows, you'll be amazed. There is so much suspense, sadness, and laughter in this book. Wilson Rawls the author grew up in the northeastern Ozarks in Oklahoma, roaming around with his bluetick hounds, just like the character of this book. Billy is a young boy, growing up in the Cherokee county in the Ozarks. He finds an ad in a magazine saying coon hound pups for sale. He saves up money and puts the money in a tin can. When he saves up enough money, him and his grandfather keep it a secret from his parents and order the pups. When they came in he had to walk to the big city to get them. On the way home, he named them Old Dan and little Ann. Billy raises the pups and trains them how to hunt. On one of the hunts, he was hunting the ghost coon. A couple of the town's tough boys bet him that his dogs couldn't catch the ghost coon. Billy won the bet, bet a tragic thing happen that night. Some one died that night when they were hunting. It was an accident, but Billy blamed it on him self. Billy also tried his luck by putting his dogs in a competition. His dogs did great, but several things happen there. One of the things that happened was that a blizzard came thought when the competition was going on. His grandfather also broke his leg when hunting. But he one the competition and got the gold cup. When he got home, he gave the gold cup to his youngest sister. I thought that this book was one of the best book I ever read. When I started reading the book I just didn't want to stop. The best thing I liked about it was that it wasn't to long, but not to short. There are more things that happen in the book, but Im not going to tell you what happens.