Where the Red Fern Grows
Recommended. Age: 10+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Billy works for two years to buy two hunting dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann. They hunt raccoons in the hills and win a big contest. The ending is very sad because both dogs die. It has lots of hunting and some scary parts, and it is good for kids about ten and up. This is a boy's book about work, loyalty and prayer, and it earns its tears. Billy prays often and the story treats God as real and near. The hunting is graphic and one child dies in an accident, so know your reader. The red fern legend is folklore and needs one sentence from a parent.
For parents
Read aloud from about nine. Independent reading from ten or eleven, so a fifth grader is right on target. Warn a tender child first. Common Sense Media rates the violence 'a lot': raccoons are hunted, killed and skinned, a boy dies when he falls on an ax, and a mountain lion fight kills Old Dan. Little Ann then dies of grief. Billy is also whipped with a switch and beaten by other boys. Talk about Billy's prayers. He asks God for help and gets it, and then he is angry at God when the dogs die. Ask: does God still love Billy when the answer is no? Ask what the two years of saving taught him. Explain that the red fern and its angel are a legend, a lovely one, and that our real hope rests on God's promises. Animals are God's creatures and we owe them kindness, and hunting for food and a family's living is not wrong.