Where the Red Fern Grows

Wilson Rawls (1996) Where the red fern grows, is a story about the adventures of little boy named Billy and his two dogs, Little Ann and Old Dan. Billy and his dogs adventures are centered around capturing a raccoon, for Billy’s dogs are hunting dogs. This tale is full of morals and doing what is right. The story ends graphically, when a mountain lion attacks Billy and his dogs. His dogs are badly wounded during the attack, yet they still save Billy from the lion’s wrath. The story end as Old Dan dies first because of his wounds, from the mountain lion and a day later Little Ann loses her battle to live. Billy takes this quite hard but soon recovers when he visits their grave and a red fern is growing from the graves. The fern’s presence alerts Billy that an angel was at the dogs graves, which meant that his dogs served a greater purpose.

This fictional novel can be categorized as traditional literature within the sub-genre of a family story. This story contains two dogs with human personification. Old Dan is considered to be brave and Little Ann is considered to be smart. Billy relates to the dogs as if they were his family. This book is a chapter book. The intended audience for this literary work are grades 4-6.

This book is related to my topic because it takes the reader on a journey about love and determination. Not saying that love and determination is beyond my reality. For the purpose of this blog, I am particularly referring to the journey of love. In this novel, readers explore how Billy and his dogs grow together and how the solve difficulties together. This is the beauty of this novel. As Billy and his dogs go on their adventures you can see how their connection and love for each other can teach young readers how to get along with their peers. For example, when Billy’s dogs sense that his life is in danger, they band together to save him, this is an act of love and determination.

I would recommend this book for teachers who want conduct a guided reading group and focus on guiding the students with questions about how this book can relate to their lives.

Rawls, W. (1996). Where the red fern grows. Yearling.

• June 11, 2012
• Traditional Literature
• 1 Comment