Where the Red Fern Grows is about a man revisiting his memories as a child. The book starts when he wants a dog. He has to save up his money for two years. When Billy finally saves up all of his money to get his two Redbone Coonhounds, he starts training his dogs to be the best hunters around. Suddenly Billy gets a little too good at hunting, it’s gotten him in trouble. When tragedy hits him, he wonders if he will be able to move on. This story is about the love of dogs, and the love that dogs give. Where the Red Fern Grows is a very moving story about a man who grew up in the countryside (The Ozark Mountains) and how he saves up money to buy two Redbone Coonhounds. I would really recommend this book to read. The characters are always showing so much emotion and love towards each other. The author makes you feel like you traveled back in time to your childhood and transforms the scene around you to the countryside. The description of the setting is so realistic, you could almost hear the birds around you and smell the grass. I think that people would enjoy this book because it makes you think about your own life if you have ever had a pet and you have a special relationship with it, the book reminds you of your relationship with it. For example, the book is about a boy and his dogs. It reminds me of my relationship with my cats. The characters were so realistic I had to stop and tell myself that this was a fictional story. Billy (the main character) acts so much like someone I know. The book has so much vivid detail that each chapter makes you think that you are in the book. When the story ended, it was a perfect seal to the story. The book answered all of my questions and left such a big impression on me. I hope you enjoy it! I would vote this book a 5/5.

This was my first book upon getting back into reading. It was perfect, I loved it! Read it in just under a week because it kept me entertained the whole time. The ending definitely made me cry and I didn’t want it to end!

I personally have never read this book. Not sure how that happened, but I'll chalk it up to fate intervening. However, my oldest son has recently read it and written up his first book report, which he would like to share on here for other kids considering picking this up. Be forewarned that there are spoilers throughout this review, because my son was writing a book report, so if you'd rather not know what happens in this novel, please do not read any further. In "Where The Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls, a boy named Billy saves up $50.00 for two years to buy two hunting dogs. In this story, Billy is determined to train his dogs, Little Ann and Old Dan, to be the best. Nothing would stop Billy from achieving his goal. He started his journey in the middle of the night, alone and walked 30 miles to pick up the dogs. After a year of training Old Dan and Little Ann, he started hunting every night and then he took the coon skins to his grandfather’s store to sell. Once he spent 2 days chopping down a tree his dogs had treed a coon in. He would not leave the tree until he got the coon. Two mean boys challenged Billy to hunt down a ghost coon. After a long chase, the dogs treed it, but Billy did not want to kill it. There was a bad fight with the mean boys’ blue tick hound and Billy’s dogs., One of the brothers took Billy’s axe and fell on it and bleed to death. The other brother ran away in shock. Billy was sad about the bad accident. Billy’s grandfather entered his dogs in a big hunting contest where they spent a few days competing against other dogs. In the final day, there was a blizzard while they were hunting and the dogs nearly froze to death circling a tree they had chased the coon in to. Just like Billy, the dogs would not give up. Billy went home with 2 trophies and $300.00 prize money. Billy continued to hunt. One night the dogs came up against a mountain lion, who attacked them and Billy. Billy’s dogs saved his life but were severely injured. Billy’s father helped get the dogs home and Billy’s mother helped stitch up Old Dan. Old Dan died soon, and Little Ann found his grave and died there. In the spring, rare red ferns grew at the grave site. . Billy grieved and asked God why the dogs had to die. He did not want any other dogs but Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy’s parents tried to make him feel better. His parents had always dreamed about moving to the city so the children could attend school. His father showed Billy the box of money he had been saving from all the coon skins he sold and the contest money. Thanks to Billy’s great love for his dogs and his success and determination, the family was able to move to the city. In this book, I learned to never give up no matter how hard it gets in life. I also learned to set a goal and try to achieve that goal.

Wonderful book but not those who get sad easy. This book is so well written that I cried over a book for the first time. Thanks, Wilson Rawls.

My young daughter read this book years ago and I remembered her telling me how good this book was. I decided at the ripe old age of 80 that I would read it too. It did not disappoint me. It's a heartfelt story and you can't help but love it.

This is from a time when hunting and animal pelts were important. There is hunting and killing animals which is not easy for me to take. But it’s not in violence or cruelty. It’s a great tale about a boys yearning for two hunting dogs and his relationship with them. A wonderful relationship with his grandpa and his parents. And the two dogs relationships with each other. If you can understand that times were different back then, this is a great read! Tenderly written and has stood the test of time.

A wonderful book for all dog lovers. Appropriate for preteen and older readers. Will likely bring tears to your eyes.

This classic book allows you to learn about honest, hard working, and honest to goodness love. The way Wilson writes is like few other authors, and I have never truly cared about two animals more in my life. Full of adventure, sadness, and love, this almost alive book will show everyone what caring means.