Where The Red Fern Grows

“You can read every day where the dog saved the life of a drowning child, or lay down his life for his master. Some people call this loyalty. I don’t. I may be wrong, but I call it love—the deepest kind of love.” … “It’s a shame that people all over the world can’t have that kind of love in their hearts. … It would be the kind of world God wants us to have—a wonderful world.”

Where The Red Fern Grows

Where the Red Fern Grows is an old classic, one which you’ve likely read or at least heard of. It’s a story of the deep love between man and animal, and of how God works through the seemingly horrible parts of life.

Plot

For years, Billy has dreamt of having two coon-hunting dogs. One day, after years of hard work and patient saving up, he buys them. His two dogs become an inseparable pair, and, along with Billy, became the best hunters in the Ozarks.

The plot is simple, which goes to show that it is not the center of the story. It’s really just a cascading of events through which the character and message are shown.

Characters

Billy’s character is shown different from most books. It’s written in first person, which places you in the character’s head in a deeper way.

His relationship with his dogs is written well, and you quickly get attached to the characters and dogs.

Theme & Spiritual Application

There are several instances of cursing by the characters, which surprised me for such a renowned children’s book. It seems some are omitted in the copy I read, but a few still made it through.

There are many references to God, prayer, and the Bible. It seems to be implied that the characters are Christian. They’re always praying and the father will talk about God’s will.

There are several places with blood and gore, which, again, surprised me. One character dies in a brutal way, and in another scene an animal looses its intestines.

Overall

I have mixed feelings about this book. I like the character and the way the author moves you and makes you root for Billy and his dogs. On the other, a brutal death and some rather disturbing descriptions felt out of place in such a timeless children’s classic.

It reminded me of Pax in a way, though more likely that book drew inspiration from Where the Red Fern Grows.

If you’re interested in buying the book, you can find it here.

Overall, I’d say it’s a decent read, especially if you like animals. But it may be somewhat disturbing to younger children.