Old Yeller
Recommended. Age: 10+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Travis is fourteen and must take care of the farm in Texas while his father is away. A big yellow dog shows up and steals their meat. Soon the dog saves the family from a bear, wild hogs and a sick wolf. The ending is very sad, and the book is good for kids about ten and up. This is a short, honest book about a boy who does a man's work and learns what love can cost. Travis shoots the dog he loves because his family's safety comes first. The Cardinal Newman Society lists it for grades 5 to 8. The content cells are blank because no content log covers the book. Parents should know that the ending makes many children cry, and that is part of why it is worth reading together.
For parents
Read aloud from about nine. Independent reading from ten or eleven, which fits the publisher's 9 to 12 and the Cardinal Newman Society's grades 5 to 8. Tell a tender child ahead of time that the dog dies. Wikipedia's plot has a bear attack, wild hogs that hurt Travis, and a rabid wolf. Ask: why does Travis dislike the dog at first, and what changes his mind? Why does he have to shoot Old Yeller himself? Teach that duty to protect your family can ask for a hard sacrifice. Be clear on one point. Putting down a sick and dangerous animal is right and merciful. That is never true of a human person, whose life belongs to God. Talk about grief. Ask how we thank God for the creatures He gives us. One reviewer notes that little Arliss throws rocks and has fits of temper toward his mother. Ask your child how Arliss should have acted. Readers also mention frontier-era remarks about fighting Indians.