Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls · first published 1961
38% recommend52% neutral10% critical
Why HN recommends it
An emotionally powerful coming-of-age story about a boy and his hunting dogs. It is moving and well written, and it rewards reading as a young person or returning to it later in life.
Common criticism: Some critics see it as a schoolroom default that is too easy for advanced readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Where the Red Fern Grows is a 1961 children's novel by Wilson Rawls about a boy who buys two hunting dogs.
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If you actually want literature, my favorite book as a child was Where the Red Fern Grows. If they are around 14+ there are some great, captivating Hemmingway books. A Farewell to Arms, Island in the Stream, A Movable Feast, and The Garden of Eden (In that order). I keeping editing as I think…
on “What are great books for boys?” ↗Hatchet The Forest Runners Where the Red Fern Grows
on “Ask HN: What book had a big impact on you as a child or teenager?” ↗This is the second time a text has brought tears to my eyes. The first was "Where the red fern grows". Read this, it's well written and worth the time.
on “My Family’s Slave” ↗…Thenardier, Javert too until I learned to pity him... The book rambles a bit, but it's wonderful. In parts uplifting and crushing. I don't communicate well enough to express how much I think of it. "Where the Red Fern Grows", I believe it was the first book of quality writing and compelling characters I read. A perfect book for a seven or eight year old boy.
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗I think Where the Red Fern Grows was the first book I read as a kid that had any genuine emotional impact - I distinctly remember ending up in tears. I hope my son will get as much out of it when he's a bit older.
on “What are great books for boys?” ↗Using best and favorite interchangeably as literature is a pretty subjective subject: As a kid: Where the Red Fern Grows As an adult: The Dharma Bums
on “Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read? ” ↗I never heard of this book as a kid, or I would have devoured it. Hatchet and Where the Red Fern Grows were my favorite books. And The Forest Runners series. I still bought it when I heard about it as an adult. I'll read it soon. But I followed through. I bought a 40-acre homestead I'm working on. I'm…
on “Ask HN: What book have you re-read 3x or more?” ↗…by third grade. I had trouble finding a couple of them, which held me up. I got into many other books those years. My Friend Flicka, Black Beauty. The Hobbit. White Fang, Hatchet. The Forest Runners. Where the Red Fern Grows. Still some of my favorites on that list. They really shaped my life, actually.
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗In the book "Where the Red Fern Grows" why does Billy hate dogs? > In the book "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls, Billy hates hate towards dogs because his family had two hunting hounds that were killed by raccoons while they were…
on “Show HN: Turning books into chatbots with GPT-3” ↗…can guarantee you that challenging someone who does not want to be challenged will not actually cause them to learn anything. When I was a kid, two different years, the teachers had us read/read to us "Where the Red Fern Grows". At the time, I was reading fantasy from the adult section at the library (and was teased for it; both the fact I was reading for fun, and the subject matter). Literally the only thing I remember about…
on “Pandemic homeschoolers who are not going back” ↗I don't disagree with you. When I was in school (and still now, really) if there wasn't a dragon or a spaceship on the cover, I wasn't interested in it. I remember more about Where the Red Fern Grows, but not much (a kid gets mail order dogs to hunt with and (spoilers) the dogs die ... because the dogs always die). The only thing I remember about Silas Marner is that he buried his money and it was…
on “Pandemic homeschoolers who are not going back” ↗…wonderful govment, wonderful. Why, looky here. There was a free nigger there from Ohio – a mulatter, most as white as a white man. He had the whitest shirt on you ever see..." Contrast this with a book like Where The Red Fern Grows, where a boy's dog (who he loves dearly) is disemboweled in front of him and he has to literally stuff his intestines back into the dog's bloody carcass. If the high purpose is indeed to protect children…
on “I am very real” ↗And as far as book selection goes... no one is getting fired for picking Where the Red Fern Grows - but watch out if you go the sci-fi/fantasy route. There are parents that will throw an absolute fit if a school had their kids reading anything with magic.
on “Pandemic homeschoolers who are not going back” ↗…sponge up as much information as possible during those critical years of childhood brain plasticity!) I've always been a sensitive person (until cruel kids taught me to hide it) and Watership Down and Where The Red Fern Grows got me bad as a kid... but not like lifelong trauma or anything, just baby's first exposure to death.
on “The original “Bambi”” ↗agreed -- slowly integrating fiction. if you're interested there are two fiction books up there right now. The Alchemist and Where the Red Fern Grows https://www.konjer.xyz/the-alchemist https://www.konjer.xyz/where-the-red-fern-grows
on “Show HN: Turning books into chatbots with GPT-3” ↗