Where the Red Fern GrowsWilson Rawls

Introduction

Background

Discussion Starters

Where the Red Fern GrowsWilson Rawls

Where the Red Fern Grows: Introduction

Have you ever wanted something so badly

that you would do anything to get it?

Where the Red Fern Grows: Introduction

All Billy Colman wants

is two raccoon-hunting hound dogs

to trek with him through the forests and river valleys of the Ozark Mountains.

Where the Red Fern Grows: Introduction

But Billy’s father tells him times are hard.

Some have taken jobs with the railroad just to put food on the table.

Many farmers can’t afford to feed their families.

Where the Red Fern Grows: Introduction

Ten-year-old Billy vows to earn the money on his own

by working in the fields,

selling bait to fishermen,

trapping animals for skins,

and picking berries to sell in his grandpa’s store.

Where the Red Fern Grows: Introduction

After two years of hard work, Billy’s bank is full of dollars and coins.

So, his grandpa orders two prize coonhound puppies from an ad in a magazine.

Where the Red Fern Grows: Introduction

To pick up his pups from the train depot, Billy will have to walk barefoot to the nearest town,

which is more than 20 miles away,

through forests and hills and across rivers.

in the dark of night,

Where the Red Fern Grows: Introduction

Do Billy’s persistence and hard work pay off?

And will he survive the dangerous journey?

Where the Red Fern Grows: Background

Like his character Billy, author Wilson Rawls grew up on a small farm in the Ozark Mountains of northeastern Oklahoma.

The government had given the land to Rawls’s mother because of her Cherokee heritage.

The goal was to create traditional farms much like those of white settlers.

Where the Red Fern Grows: Background

In 1887, the U.S. government passed a law to redistribute reservation land among individual members of American Indian nations.

But like much of this land, the Rawls home was very rural

Where the Red Fern Grows: Background

and surrounded by thick woods and wild animals.

far from any town, school, or doctor,

Where the Red Fern Grows: Background

Life was already a challenge when the stock market crash of 1929 helped trigger the Great Depression and a decade of lost jobs,

low profits,

low prices,

low wages,

slow trade,

and high poverty.

Where the Red Fern Grows: Background

Like many Americans, writer Wilson Rawls was forced to leave home and travel the country in search of work. The search for jobs took him to

• Mexico

• South America

• Alaska

• Oregon

• Idaho

• Canada

Where the Red Fern Grows: Background

The lack of food, clothing, shelter, and medical care was a very real threat in those days.

The need to put food on the table and stay healthy were daily struggles for Wilson Rawls and his family

and for the Colmans in Where the Red Fern Grows.

Where the Red Fern Grows: Discussion Starters

Discuss (1)

• Name other stories, books, or movies about a boy and his dog or another pet.

• Are you familiar with books about a girl and her animal?

• Why do you think these ideas appear often in fiction? What effect do these coming-of-age stories have on a reader? Why are they powerful?

Where the Red Fern Grows: Discussion Starters

Discuss (2)

Billy keeps his plan to save money and send away for the dogs a secret from his father. He even sneaks away in the dark of night on his twenty-mile journey.

•Why do you think he kept his dream a secret?

•Did he make the right choice? Why or why not?

Where the Red Fern GrowsWilson Rawls

Images provided by Jupiter Images and Shutterstock.