Book Review: Where the Red Fern Grows

His Only Pet Experience

My son and I just finished "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls (1961). We started out reading it as a family, but my 5-year-old daughter didn't seem to have much interest. That was when my son (age 9) and I switched to the audio book. We listened to it about 2 times a week in the car as we drove to and from karate practice (a 20 minute drive in each direction).

I remember reading Red Fern when I was a kid. It was one of the first big books that I read entirely on my own. We also read it as a class in grade school, I believe. Even though the main character, Billy Colman's backwoods world of the Ozarks was completely foreign to me, I could totally see this barefoot boy running through the woods with his beloved hounds. Rawls has a way of making young readers feel empowered by making Billy so determined and relentless in his goals.

For those who haven't read it, the book is about a boy (Billy) growing up in rural northeastern Oklahoma during the Great Depression. Billy works two long, hard years to earn enough money to buy a pair of coon hunting dogs. The trio becomes the best of friends and the best coon hunters anyone has ever seen.

Largely autobiographical, Rawls' story is infused with a strong sense of integrity and a 1960's black and white sense of right and wrong. To me, this kind of "morality tale" is very refreshing in this day and age of grey areas and ambiguity.

Although the milieu of this story was utterly foreign to my son too, he embraced it from the beginning. He had never heard of coon hunting nor did it ever enter his mind that there were people who couldn't afford shoes. He can't even really relate to being so enamored with a pet, as almost everyone in our family has allergies including him. Since he breaks out after just petting a dog, this book will likely be his only pet experience (unless you count our Chinese fighting fish named Sagwa, but he wasnít much fun).

(SPOILER ALERT- if you don't know the plot of the book—yeah, right, like who doesn't—do not read this paragraph) The most touching moment of the book came when we were driving across town to my son's wrestling tournament. We were in the final chapters of the book where both of the dogs died. I noticed that my son had his faced turned to the window and he wouldn't look at me. I figured he was sad and decided not to bother him. Sure enough, it wasnít long until he was wiping his eyes. I felt for him, but at the same time I thought it was cool. "How many books make you care so much about a character that you get choked up when they die?" I thought, as I swallowed to make the lump in my own throat go away.

Go pick up a copy of this classic today and read it with your kids or give it to them as a gift. They will likely love it as much as you did. If you haven't yet read it, you will be glad that you did. I also plan on watching the 2003 version of Red Fern (there is also a 1974 version), so look for that review to come soon.