Helpful Score: 3
I loved this book as a child, and loved reading it to my own children. The author takes us into a unknown Florida ecosystem, and puts us right inside the skin of a boy. I think we all cried, and all loved the book.
Helpful Score: 2
My fifth grade teacher read this to me twenty five years ago. This evening I finished reading it my fifth grader.
Billy has his heart set on owning a hunting dog. He saves his nickels and dimes for two years to earn the money to buy a pair of dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann. What follows is a wonderful story of the love between a boy and his dogs, the freedom of childhood, and the subtle experiences that turn a boy into a man.
Although this story is about a boy, girls will love it, too. I highly recommend reading it to your fifth grader. Mine loved it!
Billy has his heart set on owning a hunting dog. He saves his nickels and dimes for two years to earn the money to buy a pair of dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann. What follows is a wonderful story of the love between a boy and his dogs, the freedom of childhood, and the subtle experiences that turn a boy into a man.
Although this story is about a boy, girls will love it, too. I highly recommend reading it to your fifth grader. Mine loved it!
Helpful Score: 1
Re-reading classics from childhood is fascinating- this is a total tear jerker of a book, but I also realized how sub-par the actual writing is. Not in a bad way, just not a 'classic' in the sense of a solid literary work. That being said, it feels like a very real story, told from the heart.
Helpful Score: 1
Great childrens book and adults as well.
A very good book! Very intense and a real thriller!
This is a very overrated children's book set in early United States about a young country boy and his two dogs. It was fairly well-written and easy to read, but had a rather weak plot which tried to be sad and moving but was closer to being sad and pathetic. This book is required in a lot of elementary schools, and while it is far from being the worst book ever written, its status as being such a commonly required book is hardly to justified either.
In spite of being written during the Depression, there is a timelessness to this simple story. Young Billy works two long, hard years to earn the money to realize his dream-to own a pair of dogs for hunting raccoons. Rawls instills this autobiographical piece with a strong sense of right and wrong, as well as innocence and integrity. Anthony Heald is wonderful with this action and emotion-laden story. He aptly delivers a tone and sense appropriate to the text. He also does a particularly good representation of young and old voices and a variety of Southern accents. This title is an excellent selection for family listening or for anyone desiring an uplifting, but realistic tale.
One of my all time favorites.
This is an excellent book for teens and adults alike! For the millions who loved "The Incredable Journey" and "Old Yeller", this is a heartwarming story and tale of advemture and friendship of a boy and his dogs that you will never forget.
better than the movie!!
Books like this one were part of the reason I loved reading so much as a child. Whether you're a fifth grader or a 30-year-old, you can enjoy this read. I have read it since becoming an adult, partly to celebrate what made me the booklover I have become and partly to just get some for-sure-good reading. Should be required reading for children.
A great story about a boy and his dogs for both boys and girls.
very good book, it is a classic
A must-read for every dog-lover. The tale of a boy and his dogs and selfless love. It emphasizes sacrifice, hard work, determination, and faith.
This book was really good, I read it when I was quite young, but it has still stuck with me to this day.
awww.
this book gives me fond memories...
this book gives me fond memories...
My 5th grade teacher read this book aloud to my class, and I've been in love ever since! I've reread it countless times since then, and I love to pass the story along to other readers as well.
great story, sad but excellent.
A very great but very sad book.
This is an inspiring story of a young boy living in the country who overcomes obstacles for the love of one thing: His two dogs.
This was my son's favorite novel in 8th grade. That says something for all the teachers out there!
I could read this one over & over. One of my all time favs!
This book is an all-time classic... and it's also the book that probably started my phobia of mountain lions...
My son, age 11, and I just finished this book and as soon as I closed it up he said, "Mom, that was a really great book. I really liked it!" That was music to my ears!
Quite a tear jerker.
Rawls keeps you on the edge of your seat in "Where the Red Fern Grows" with growing anticipation as the plot unfolds. While reading this book you will laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time.
Timeless classic.
I remember reading this in sixth grade, and the memory has stayed with me all these years. It is a classic that every child should read. A beautiful story of love that will touch anyone who reads it.
A real classic that makes one relive their childhood.
Children's classic of family and love.
Well, a lot of other people apparently loved it as a child, so I am in the minority. I just read it for the first time, as an adult and the ending spoiled it for me.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
This is a great story. All time classic.
But if you love animals, be sure to have a box of tissues with you when you read!
But if you love animals, be sure to have a box of tissues with you when you read!
Captures the powerful bond between man and his best friend. A very good book but very sad in the end. Children and adults will love this story which is an interesting classic.
Well, a lot of other people apparently loved it as a child, so I am in the minority. I just read it for the first time, as an adult and the ending spoiled it for me.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
This is a great story. All time classic.
But if you love animals, be sure to have a box of tissues with you when you read!
But if you love animals, be sure to have a box of tissues with you when you read!
Excellent book about a young boy and his hunting dogs. I've been reading so-called children's books, and this was written as a novel/memoir, but became a best seller when marketed as a children's book. A boy saves money made from various jobs for TWO YEARS to afford two hunting dogs. He then trains them to hunt raccoons for their skins. Sad ending, but well worth the read.
Well, a lot of other people apparently loved it as a child, so I am in the minority. I just read it for the first time, as an adult and the ending spoiled it for me.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
I absolutely adored this story. Have read it many many times
My family and I really enjoyed this book. Billy will inspire you and Old Dan and Little Ann will warm your heart.
Well, a lot of other people apparently loved it as a child, so I am in the minority. I just read it for the first time, as an adult and the ending spoiled it for me.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
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.
An exciting tale of love and adventure you'll never forget.
A classic for so many reasons. One of the most emotionally moving books I ever read as a child.
Excellent story of a boy and his dogs. It shows good character traits in growing up. Keep tissues handy.
Heartwarming story of a boy and his dogs in the Kiamechi Mountains of Oklahoma.
Great Book. I read this to my son when he was around 8 years old and he loved it.
Well, a lot of other people apparently loved it as a child, so I am in the minority. I just read it for the first time, as an adult and the ending spoiled it for me.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature" it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library. I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, though I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and sympathize with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature" it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library. I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, though I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and sympathize with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann..one boy and 2 dogs, make an unbeatable hunting team. Glory awaits them, but so does tragedy.
An exciting tale of love and adventure between a boy and his two dogs
My absolute favorite book EVER!!!!!
A great story of friendship!
A wonderful story about Billy and the two dogs that he made into the finest hunting dogs in the valley
Billy, Old Dan, and Little Anna 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 make them into the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too.
Where the Red Fern Grows is an exciting tale of love and adventure youll never forget.
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 make them into the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too.
Where the Red Fern Grows is an exciting tale of love and adventure youll never forget.
Well, everyone else here loved it as a child, so I am in the minority. I just read it for the first time, as an adult and the ending spoiled it for me.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
SPOILER ALERT
I started reading this book to see if it would be a good one to read with a dog-loving foreign student in junior high, whom I am tutoring. At first it seemed like the perfect choice...but then I had a look at the last few chapters and changed my mind. Good "literature," it probably is, but there is a description of the killing of one of the boy's dogs that is downright gruesome. It could have been handled in a much less graphic way.
In my opinion, this book does not belong in the children's section of the library (its location in our local library). I dislike the modern penchant for having kids' stories end sadly, anyway, but I would not demand that every story end "happily ever after." Nevertheless, the graphic brutality in "Red Fern" is over the top.
Sure, kids nowadays are exposed to hundreds of gruesome killings, blowings-up, and so on, when they watch TV, and they may kill and blow people up themselves in video games, but there is a difference between animated games and a story that draws you in so that you identify with and suffer with the characters.
Anyone considering having his/her child read this book should check out the part about the dogs' deaths first and make a decision based on how their child might react to the story. I would keep it from mine as long as I could.
Required reading for students.
My 11 year old daughter just finished this book. She poured through it. It's the first time she's ever cried at the end of a book and she couldn't wait to tell me all about it. I read it when I was a child and remembered being moved as well. It's beautifully written and a good read for young teens as well. I'm having my 13 year old daughter read it next.
sad story if you love dogs and animals. good book you will read it in middle school so get a head start now.
Even my caustic brother cried at the end.
I don't belong to the consensus who loved this book. In fact, I found the book to be corny and hokey. The ending was the first and only time that I felt moved. The protagonist was flat and irreverent. Unlike Marjorie Rawling's "The Yearling" who wrote about hunting animals with extraordinary reverence. As I read it, I kept wondering what was it that readers loved about this book so.
The Corner on the cover is bent, but otherwise the book is in good condition.
