50 Fun Facts About Where the Red Fern Grows

In Where the Red Fern Grows, which breed of hunting dog are Billy's beloved Old Dan and Little Ann?

Redbone Coonhounds are prized for a rich red coat as well as a nose for old trails, and the breed is best known from this novel.

How does Rubin Pritchard die during the ghost coon hunt in Where the Red Fern Grows?

He falls on an ax while charging at Billy's hounds, which are mauling the Pritchards' own dog. A stick trips him mid-stride, and the shock puts Billy off hunting for days.

According to the legend in Where the Red Fern Grows, who alone can plant the seeds of a red fern?

An angel alone can plant a red fern, the legend says, and the ground where one grows is sacred. Billy finds one between his dogs' graves on the day he leaves.

Which animal fatally wounds Old Dan while he defends Billy in Where the Red Fern Grows?

A mountain lion leaps from the tree the hounds have circled, and both dogs fight it to the death to protect Billy. Old Dan's wounds kill him soon after.

What finally topples the giant tree Billy chops at for two days in Where the Red Fern Grows?

A sudden wind blows the tree over just after an exhausted Billy asks God for strength. He had refused to quit because he promised his dogs he would do the rest.

Which rock bandleader plays Billy's father in the 2003 film version of Where the Red Fern Grows?

Dave Matthews, frontman of the Dave Matthews Band, plays Will Coleman, a farmer who cannot afford the hounds his son longs for.

Why does Little Ann die only days after Old Dan in the novel Where the Red Fern Grows?

She stops eating from grief, and Billy finds her lying dead on Old Dan's grave. He buries the two hounds side by side.

In which state's stretch of the Ozarks does Billy grow up in the novel Where the Red Fern Grows?

Oklahoma holds the western edge of the Ozarks, and the author grew up in those hills himself. Most of the range lies in Missouri and Arkansas.

In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does Billy decide to do with the treed ghost coon?

Let it live is Billy's verdict, since an old raccoon that has fooled every hunter for years has earned it. The choice starts his fight with Rubin Pritchard.

Which quality sets small Little Ann apart from the stronger Old Dan in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Her intelligence means no raccoon's trick fools her for long, while Old Dan supplies the muscle and the stubbornness. Billy notices the difference on their first night together.

In Where the Red Fern Grows, where does Billy stash the coins he saves for two years to buy his pups?

A baking powder can holds every coin, starting with the 23 cents Billy already has. When he finally pours out fifty dollars, his grandfather is moved to tears.

To which town's depot does Billy walk through the night to collect his pups in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Tahlequah is as far as the pups can travel, because the mail buggy will not carry live dogs. Billy cannot bear to wait a week for a ride, so he slips out after dark.

In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does the marshal buy Billy after rescuing him from bullies?

A bottle of soda pop, the first Billy has ever had, is the marshal's treat. He warms to the boy on hearing how long he worked to pay for two pups.

What shape surrounds the names Dan and Ann that Billy finds carved on a tree in Where the Red Fern Grows?

A heart frames the two names cut into the bark, and Billy takes the coincidence as a sign. He gives the names to his pups there and then.

Where does Billy find the magazine advertising hound pups for sale in Where the Red Fern Grows?

An abandoned fishing camp yields a sportsman's magazine with a kennel ad offering pups at $25 each. Billy resolves to earn enough for a pair.

In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does Grandpa teach Billy to build to keep a treed raccoon from escaping?

A scarecrow propped by the tree fools the raccoon into thinking Billy is still there. It lets the worn-out boy go home to eat and sleep.

What does Billy bend into a hook to pull Little Ann from a freezing river in Where the Red Fern Grows?

His lantern's handle clatters down just as he begs for a miracle, which gives him the idea. He fixes the wire hook to a cane pole and snags her collar.

Which hound belongs to Rubin and Rainie Pritchard, the rivals who dare Billy in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Old Blue is a big bluetick hound that chews through his rope to join the hunt. Old Dan and Little Ann leave him nearly dead in the fight that follows.

In the novel Where the Red Fern Grows, where is the ghost coon finally found hiding?

In a hollow gatepost close to the tree it always climbs, the old raccoon sits out of sight. Little Ann catches its scent on the breeze just as the boys give up.

Which event does Little Ann win before the hunting starts at the championship in Where the Red Fern Grows?

The beauty contest for best-looking hound goes to Little Ann after Grandpa talks a doubtful Billy into entering her. He grooms her the next day.

Which trophy does Billy promise to his youngest sister before winning it in Where the Red Fern Grows?

A gold cup is the championship prize, and Billy hands it over as promised. The win also brings a $300 jackpot that the other hunters chipped in.

What business does Billy's grandfather run, the hunters' gathering spot in Where the Red Fern Grows?

A general store is also where Billy sells his hides, and Grandpa quietly keeps a tally of every one. The count later qualifies the hounds for the championship.

In Where the Red Fern Grows, what injury does Grandpa suffer during the championship hunt?

A twisted ankle hurts so badly that Grandpa passes out, and Little Ann is the one who finds him. Once revived, he insists the hunt go on.

How are Old Dan and Little Ann found the morning after the blizzard in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Covered in ice, the two hounds have circled the tree all night to keep from freezing solid. The raccoon still up there wins Billy the championship.

Why do Billy's parents long to move to town in the novel Where the Red Fern Grows?

To educate the children is the dream, and Billy's hide money and the championship jackpot finally pay for it. His parents had even planned to leave him behind with Grandpa and the dogs.

In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does Billy say he no longer believes in after his dogs die?

Prayer had seemed to work for Billy all through the story, so losing both hounds after begging for their lives shakes him. The red fern later restores his faith.

In Where the Red Fern Grows, Billy's family farms land allotted to his mother through which Native American nation?

Cherokee ancestry gives Mama a claim to the land, and it mirrors the author's life: his own family's farm sat on his mother's government allotment.

What does barefoot Billy try out in the schoolyard during his trip to town in Where the Red Fern Grows?

A slide is what Billy takes it for, once the town kids who mocked him have gone inside. Papa later tells him the big pipe was the school's fire escape.

Where does Old Dan get stuck underground until Little Ann leads Billy to him in Where the Red Fern Grows?

A muskrat den in an embankment holds Old Dan fast while he is chasing a raccoon. Billy has to run home for a shovel and dig the muddy hound out.

Which author drew on his own Ozark boyhood to write the beloved novel Where the Red Fern Grows?

Wilson Rawls grew up in the same hills as Billy and wrote the story as autobiographical fiction. He also narrated the 1974 film version himself.

Which Jack London novel inspired the author of Where the Red Fern Grows to become a writer?

Call of the Wild, about a stolen pet turned sled dog, made the boy decide to write. It first ran in the very magazine that later serialized his own novel.

Which magazine serialized Where the Red Fern Grows in three parts before Doubleday published it as a book?

Saturday Evening Post readers met the story in 1961 under a different title. The author's wife had punctuated and edited the manuscript before it was sent in.

Under which title did Where the Red Fern Grows first appear as a magazine serial in 1961?

The Hounds of Youth ran as a three-part serial, and Doubleday then bought the story and gave it the title readers know.

What trade did the author of Where the Red Fern Grows follow while travelling the Americas in the 1930s and 1940s?

Carpenter was his trade, and the work took him to South America, Canada and Alaska. He wrote five manuscripts along the way and hid them in a trunk.

Which later novel by the author of Where the Red Fern Grows stars fourteen-year-old Jay Berry Lee?

Summer of the Monkeys has Jay Berry chasing animals that escaped from a travelling circus, with reward money at stake. It was the author's only other novel.

Which city's library has a statue of Billy, Old Dan and Little Ann from Where the Red Fern Grows?

Idaho Falls is near the construction site where the author took a job for the Atomic Energy Commission and met the wife who later edited his novel.

Which Oscar-nominated actor plays Grandpa in the 1974 film version of Where the Red Fern Grows?

James Whitmore, twice nominated for an Academy Award, played Grandpa. Later screen versions gave the part to Wilford Brimley and Dabney Coleman.

In the 1992 film sequel to Where the Red Fern Grows, a grown-up Billy returns wounded from which war?

World War II costs Billy a leg in the sequel, and he comes home bitter. His ailing grandfather gives him two new pups, which he is slow to accept.

Hearing two of which birds before the championship hunt strikes Billy as bad luck in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Screech owls call while Billy lies awake at Bluebird Creek, and he counts two of them as a bad sign. His hounds win anyway.

What does the grown-up Billy do in the opening chapter of Where the Red Fern Grows that stirs his memories?

He breaks up a dogfight, driving off a pack that is attacking a stray hound, then feeds and bathes it. The dog's courage sends his mind back to the Ozarks.

From a kennel in which state does Billy order his two pups by mail in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Kentucky is home to the kennel in the magazine ad, which asks $25 a pup. By the time Billy has saved up, the price has dropped, leaving him money for presents.

What does Papa give ten-year-old Billy to ease his longing for hounds in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Three steel traps only make things worse: Billy catches rats and small game but never a wily raccoon, and wants hounds more than ever.

What bait does Grandpa suggest for catching Billy's first raccoon in Where the Red Fern Grows?

A shiny piece of tin dropped in a drilled hole ringed with nails does the job. A raccoon that grabs it will not open its paw, so its fist stays caught.

In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does Mama make for Billy from his first raccoon hide?

A cap comes from that first hide, and nearly every hide after it is sold, with Billy handing the money straight to Papa.

What did the author of Where the Red Fern Grows do with his early manuscripts shortly before he got married?

He burned them all, embarrassed at the thought of his bride reading the error-strewn pages. She urged him to rewrite one story, and it became the novel.

Which sound does Billy admit frightens Little Ann, a flaw in a hunting dog, in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Gunfire scares Little Ann because she is gun-shy, an awkward trait in a hunting hound. In the blizzard, though, a shot is what brings her running back to Billy.

What does Billy pick and sell to his grandfather to pay for his pups in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Berries picked in the hills go to Grandpa, alongside every odd job Billy can find. Two years of this adds up to fifty dollars.

What does Billy secretly leave on Rubin Pritchard's grave in Where the Red Fern Grows?

Some flowers his sisters once gave him are Billy's way of making peace with the death. Rubin's mother finds them and weeps, never learning who came.

Where do Billy and his new pups shelter overnight on the long walk home in Where the Red Fern Grows?

In a cave, the pups wake to a scream in the dark and bawl right back at it. Their nerve gives Billy courage too.

Which river, named like a Midwestern state, is a key setting of the novel Where the Red Fern Grows?

The Illinois River here is a tributary of the Arkansas that rises in the Ozarks. A French explorer named it after a people who rarely lived near it.