Where the Red Fern Grows

By Wilson RawlsBackground Information

Who was Wilson Rawls?

• Born in 1913

• “Woodrow Wilson Rawls”- named for President Wilson

• Grew up in Tahlequah, Oklahoma

• “Home schooled”

• Favorite book: Call of the Wild

by Jack London

Rawls’ Writing Career

• Not highly educated

• Trouble with grammar and spelling

• Burned his first copy of Red Fern

• Original title: Hounds of Youth

• Received help from his wife

• Red Fern- published in 1961

Writing Career Continued…

• Summer of the Monkeys- 2nd novel (published in 1976)

• Rawls died in 1984

• One regret: – He wanted to show a copy of

Red Fern to his dad– “It took a long time, Dad,

but I made it.”

Setting of the novel

• Remember setting= time and place

• Time: Great Depression

• Place: Oklahoma….Ozark Mountains

Ozark Mountains in the fall

More on the Ozarks

• Deeply incised by water erosion

• Eroded areas are often very rugged

• Difficult and treacherous to foot travel

• Only large area of elevated land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rockies

Ozark Mountains in the spring

More on The Great Depression

• 1929-1939

• "Black Thursday“- October 24, 1929

• Worst economic disaster in American history

• New Deal

• Help from WWIINo job, no hope…

Facts About The Great Depression

• 50% of U.S. children did not have “adequate food, shelter, clothing or medical care”

Facts continued…

• Soup lines

• People often waited in line all day for a small meal

• Some had to pick through the trash for food

Facts continued…

• Things got worse…– The Dust Bowl – Money in the bank? – “Hoovervilles”– Hoover Soup

Facts continued…

• Things begin to get better– FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt)- became

president in 1933– New Deal

• Social Security• National Recovery Administration • Securities and Exchange Commission

– FDIC– Fireside talks– WW II

This says it all…

There’s More to the Story

• There is more to Where the Red Fern Grows than the setting:

• Hound Dogs• Raccoons• Mountain Lion

• Not to mention ADVENTURE and SUSPENSE

Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog

• Redbone Coon Hounds– Fur: Rich red color– Size: 45-75 pounds– Life expectancy: 11-12 years– Very loyal, brave, and tough– Excellent hunters

The Infamous “Tree Bark”

Whose Behind That Mask?

• Raccoons– Common in the Ozarks– Black “burglar’s mask”– Tail serves as a brace– Climb trees to escape predators– Wash their food

“The Scourge of the Mountains”

• Let’s begin with the roar and a video:– http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/

wildlife/mountain_lion.php– Diet: Large mammals such as deer

Will also eat smaller mammals such as mice, squirrels, porcupines, raccoons, rabbits and beavers. 

– There are an estimated 30,000 mountain lions in the western U.S.

More on the Scourge

• Mountain lions are solitary animals.  They are very territorial and actively avoid other cats except during courtship. 

Now we are ready to read…

• What aspect are you most excited to learn more about?

What an Experience!

• Many years have passed since Wilson Rawls wrote Where the Red Fern Grows, and a lot of things have changed in our country. One thing always remains the same, however…every person who reads this book is touched by it and forever changed by the experience.

Time to Meet Billy

• I look forward to sharing this book with you.