Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
188 Rating(s)
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
Club: $10.00

Where the Red Fern Grows

Author: Wilson Rawls

Narrator: Anthony Heald

Unabridged: 6 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/05/2000


Synopsis

A beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man’s best friend.
 
Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he’s finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own—Old Dan and Little Ann—he’s ecstatic. It doesn’t matter that times are tough; together they’ll roam the hills of the Ozarks.

Soon Billy and his hounds become the finest hunting team in the valley. Stories of their great achievements spread throughout the region, and the combination of Old Dan’s brawn, Little Ann’s brains, and Billy’s sheer will seems unbeatable. But tragedy awaits these determined hunters—now friends—and Billy learns that hope can grow out of despair, and that the seeds of the future can come from the scars of the past.
 
Praise for Where the Red Fern Grows
 
A Top 100 Children’s Novel, School Library Journal's A Fuse #8 Production
A Must-Read for Kids 9 to 14, NPR
Winner of Multiple State Awards
Over 7 million copies in print!
 
“Very touching.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“One of the great classics of children’s literature . . . Any child who doesn’t get to read this beloved and powerfully emotional book has missed out on an important piece of childhood for the last 40-plus years.” —Common Sense Media
 
“An exciting tale of love and adventure you’ll never forget.” —School Library Journal
 
“A book of unadorned naturalness.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
“Written with so much feeling and sentiment that adults as well as children are drawn [in] with a passion.” —Arizona Daily Star
 
“It’s a story about a young boy and his two hunting dogs and . . . I can’t even go on without getting a little misty.” —The Huffington Post
  
“We tear up just thinking about it.” —Time on the film adaptation

About The Author

Wilson Rawls grew up on a small farm in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma. There were no schools where he lived so his mother taught Rawls and his sisters how to read and write. He says that reading the book The Call of the Wild changed his life and gave him the notion that he would like to grow up to write a book like it. He shared his dream with his father, and his father gave him the encouraging advice, "Son, a man can do anything he sets out to do, if he doesn't give up." Rawls never forgot his father's words, and went on to create two novels about his boyhood that have become modern classics.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Melinda on July 10, 2007

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 tha......more

Goodreads review by karen on July 05, 2018

this is one of my favorite books in all the land. i read it at least a million times when i was little, and it holds such a special place in my heart, i can't even begin to review it. having said all that, there are those who have a problem with the ending, because let's just say it's fairly devasta......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca on August 25, 2007

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 con......more

Goodreads review by s.penkevich on April 18, 2024

HEY, YOU KIDS WANNA UGLY CRY IN FRONT OF YOUR CLASSMATES WHILE BRIAN PISSES HIS PANTS IN THE CORNER?! Then this book is for you. ^^turns out this was the very first thing I ever wrote on goodreads and honestly, I’d already peaked.......more

Goodreads review by Matthew on April 27, 2022

I finally got to this classic book and it did not disappoint. For years I have wanted to read it with many of my friends and family having read it back in elementary/middle school and talking about how good it is. It is well written, flows well, and takes the reader on a series of emotional highs an......more


Quotes

Praise for Where the Red Fern Grows

A Top 100 Children’s Novel, School Library Journal
A Must-Read for Kids 9 to 14, NPR
A Great American Read's Selection (PBS)
Winner of Multiple State Awards
Over 14 million copies in print!


One of the great classics of children’s literature . . . Any child who doesn’t get to read this beloved and powerfully emotional book has missed out on an important piece of childhood for the last 40-plus years.” —Common Sense Media

“A rewarding book . . . [with] careful, precise observation, all of it rightly phrased....Very touching.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A book of unadorned naturalness.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
 “An exciting tale of love and adventure you’ll never forget.” —School Library Journal
“Written with so much feeling and sentiment that adults as well as children are drawn [in] with a passion.” —Arizona Daily Star

“It’s a story about a young boy and his two hunting dogs and . . . I can’t even go on without getting a little misty.” —The Huffington Post
 
“We tear up just thinking about it.” —Time on the film adaptation


Awards

  • Massachusetts Children's Book Award
  • New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award
  • North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award