Where the Red Fern Grows
Rawls, Wilson.
Readability: 6
Setting: Ozark Mountain Country
Age of Main Character: 10-14 years

Billy, his Pa, and Grandpa gazed at Old Dan and Little Ann through their tired, but proud eyes. The judge was looking straight at Bllly and said, "Well, son, you have tied the leading coon-hunting teams. There's only one more night of eliminations and at this rate you may be in the runoffs. "

Billy's heart pounded and a knot welled in his throat. Could Little Ann and Old Dan stand the challenge? The two big Walker hounds had won four gold cups and hoped to do it again. Could the dogs he'd worked so hard to get and to train really prove themselves?

Billy Colman's love for his two dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann, is the theme of this tender but dramatic story.

Billy worked very hard for two years to save enough money to buy himself two real "coon hunting" dogs. For days, weeks, and months, Billy and his dogs were inseparable. He taught them to hunt and with Little Ann's brains and Old Dan's brawn, the three of them earned a remarkable reputation. Their reputation sent them out to try to win the big gold cup for coon hunting. They won the cup, but the dogs lived only a short time after their victory.

Billy and his family then left the Ozarks back country and went to live in the city, all on the earnings of Old Dan and Little Ann.

Questions:

1. Why is the book called, Where the Red Fern Grows?


2. What was "dog-wanting disease"?


3. How did Billy Colman get two dogs?


4. Why were Old Dan and Little Ann a well-matched hunting pair?


5. If the author were to go back to the Ozarks, would he be apt to find the red fern growing there? Explain.