Nobody Writes Stories Like This About Cats

Content: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Introduction: Where the Red Fern Grows is the incredibly touching story of a boy and his hunting dogs. One of the reasons I cried as hard I did when my dog died - which is as hard as I’ve cried over anything - was that I had a great deal of displaced dog-related emotion stemming from this novel. This book is arguably the most effecting story young adults read that stays with them through adulthood. I was working at a DC law firm shortly after college, and my coworkers and I started talking about the dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann. A mid-twentysomething guy walks in, hears those names, and says “Oh no, are you guys talking about Where the Red Fern Grows? I can’t be here for this. I’m gonna cry.”

Dream’s Age at Introduction: 10

Reason for That Age: I can’t describe how devastating it is for a reader to get to the end. I don’t think that I’m giving anything away by saying that the story’s beloved dogs don’t not die, if only because that knowledge removes none of the agony. A 10-year old is about the right balance between being emotionally capable of handling the sense of loss and young enough to be moved in a way unique to young children.

What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: After reading Where the Red Fern Grows, I want Dream to have an appreciation – woven into his or her genetic fabric – that reading can move you. That books are capable of producing an emotional reaction in you that you almost didn’t know you were capable of. For a lot of people, those emotions exist between book covers before they exist between people. I don’t want Dream to rely on books as a sort of emotional coming attraction, but I do want him or her to appreciate that well-written words can evoke incredibly powerful feelings.

Be content,
John