Where the Red Fern Grows
First edition hardback cover
AuthorWilson Rawls
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's novel
PublisherDoubleday
Publication date
1961
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages245
ISBN0-440-22814-X
OCLC39850615

Where the Red Fern Grows is a 1961 children's novel by Wilson Rawls about a boy who buys and trains two Redbone Coonhounds for hunting.[1] It's a work of autobiographical fiction based on Rawls' own childhood in the Ozarks.

Plot

A middle-aged man named Billy Colman rescues a redbone hound under attack by neighborhood dogs. He takes it home with him so that its wounds can heal. In light of this event, he has a flashback to when he was ten living in the Ozark Mountains.

Young Billy wants nothing more than a pair of hounds for coon hunting. After seeing a magazine ad for coon hounds, he spends the next two years working odd jobs to earn the $50 he needs to buy two. They're delivered to Tahlequah, over 20 miles away. He decides to walk the distance. As he returns with the dogs, he sees a heart carved on a tree with the names "Dan + Ann" inside it and decides to name them Old Dan and Little Ann. With his grandfather's help, he teaches them to be very loyal to each other and him.

The first night of hunting season, Billy promises Old Dan and Little Ann that if they tree a raccoon, he will do the rest. They do so in a huge sycamore tree, which he believes is far too large to chop down. Remembering his promise to them, he spends the next two days attempting to do so. Exhausted, he prays for the strength to continue, whereupon a strong wind blows it over.

Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann become well-known as the best hunters in the Ozarks. His grandfather makes a bet with Rubin and Rainie Pritchard that Old Dan and Little Ann can tree the legendary "ghost coon" that has eluded hunters for years. After a long, complicated hunt, Old Dan and Little Ann manage to do so, but having seen how old and smart it is, Billy can't bring himself to kill it. Billy tries to stop Rubin and Rainie from doing so, leading to a fight with Rubin. Rubin and Rainie's dog, Old Blue, joins in, provoking Old Dan and Little Ann to attack him to drag him away from Billy. Rubin tries to drive Old Dan and Little Ann away with Billy's ax, but trips and falls on the blade, and is killed. Billy is deeply troubled by the tragic turn of events, and Rainie runs away from the accident in horror. Even afterward, Billy does not regret his choice to spare the ghost coon.

Billy's grandfather enters him in a championship raccoon hunt against experienced hunters. Before it starts he enters Little Ann into a beauty hound competition. She wins, so he gets a small silver cup as his prize. The hunt is scheduled during a particularly cold week, and many of the other hunters are forced to give up. However, Billy, who is used to mountain winters, is able to reach the final round. On the last night, Old Dan and Little Ann trap three raccoons in a single tree, but a sudden blizzard forces Billy to take shelter. The following morning, Old Dan and Little Ann are found covered with ice but still circling the tree. All three raccoons are captured and Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann win the championship and a $300 prize.

One night while the trio is hunting, a mountain lion attacks Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy fights to save them, but the mountain lion turns on him. They manage to save him by killing it, but Old Dan later dies of his injuries. Over the next few days, Little Ann loses the will to live and finally dies of grief atop Old Dan's grave, leaving Billy heartbroken.

Billy's father tries to comfort him by explaining that he and Billy's mother have long wished to move to town where their children can get an education, but could not afford to do so without the extra money brought in by Billy's hunting. Knowing that Old Dan and Little Ann would suffer in town and that Billy would be devastated to leave them behind, they intended to allow him to live with his grandfather. His father believes that God took Old Dan and Little Ann as a sign that the family was meant to stay together.

On his last day in the Ozarks, Billy visits Old Dan and Little Ann's graves and finds a giant red fern growing between them. Remembering a legend that only an angel can plant the seeds of one, he also comes to believe that perhaps there truly was a higher power at work.

Adult Billy closes by saying that although he hasn't returned to the Ozarks, he still dreams of visiting Old Dan and Little Ann's graves and seeing the red fern again one day.

Films

The novel was the basis of a 1974 film starring Stewart Petersen, James Whitmore, Beverly Garland, and Jack Ging. A sequel was released in 1992, starring Wilford Brimley, Chad McQueen, Lisa Whelchel, and Karen Carlson. It was remade in 2003 and starred Joseph Ashton, Dabney Coleman, Ned Beatty, and Dave Matthews.[2]

Reception

Where the Red Fern Grows Statue at the Idaho Falls Public Library

Although sales of the novel began slowly, by 1974 over 90,000 copies had been sold.[3] In 2001, Publishers Weekly estimated that it had sold 6,754,308 copies.[4]

There is a statue of Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann at the Idaho Falls Public Library.[5]

Characters in the book

  • Billy Coleman, a ten-year-old boy who lives in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma
  • Old Dan, Billy's male dog
  • Little Ann, Billy's female dog
  • Mama, Billy's mother
  • Papa, Billy's father who buys him the traps and teaches him how to use them
  • Grandpa, Billy's grandfather and owner of the country general store
  • Billy's three sisters
  • Rubin Pritchard, who is killed by an ax injury after he attempts to attack Old Dan and Little Ann
  • Rainie Pritchard, Rubin's younger brother and a troublemaker. He idolized Rubin; when Rubin was killed, he was devastated.
  • The Marshal of Tahlequah
  • Old Man Hatfield, a neighbor of Billy's
  • Mr. Kyle
  • Mr. Benson, another coon hunter
  • Dr. Lathman, another coon hunter

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Where the Red Fern Grows Discussion Guide". Scholastic.com.
  2. ↑ Shipley, Jonathan (November 20, 2021). "Here Lies Troop". Dog News. p. 90. Retrieved April 10, 2022. Only Coonhounds Need Apply at Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Cemetery in Tuscumbia Alabama
  3. ↑ Pearson, Howard (February 16, 1974). "'Ashamed of writing,' says author". Deseret News. p. 2D.
  4. ↑ "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Wilson Rawls". Idaho Falls Public Library. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
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