#128 in Classics
Where the Red Fern Grows
- 249
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Where the Red Fern Grows” turns the bond between a boy and his two hunting dogs into a story that moves even readers indifferent to hunting. Rawls draws on his own Ozark childhood, and the plain, heartfelt telling is the book’s strength. Its themes include loss and grief, so younger or more tender readers should be prepared. Dog owners, past or present, are its natural audience.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Where the Red Fern Grows is a 1961 children's novel by Wilson Rawls about a boy who buys and trains two Redbone Coonhounds for hunting. It is a work of autobiographical fiction based on Rawls' childhood in the Ozarks.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.9 across 570 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 79% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Classics average of 7.7. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.3 | 97 | 17% |
| Hardcover | 7.8 | 473 | 83% |
Frequently asked
What age is Where the Red Fern Grows for?
Where the Red Fern Grows sits on the Young adult shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 13 and up. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 249 pages — shorter than 92% of the ranked books in Classics.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Classics — with scores between 6.8 and 8.6, closest to this book.
