Where the Red Fern Grows
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50 free Where the Red Fern Grows trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Few novels are remembered as vividly, or with as many tears, as Where the Red Fern Grows. Generations of readers met Billy in a classroom, followed him and his two hounds through the river bottoms at night, and never quite got over the ending. This quiz covers the whole book: how Billy earns his pups, the hunts that make Old Dan and Little Ann famous, the feud with the Pritchard boys, the championship, and the legend behind the title. A handful of questions step outside the story to the man who wrote it and the films it inspired. It suits students revising for a final test, teachers looking for a ready-made review, and anyone who read the book years ago and wants to see how much stayed with them. Every answer comes with a short explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In Where the Red Fern Grows, which breed of hunting dog are Billy's beloved Old Dan and Little Ann?
Redbone Coonhounds
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.
Q 02How does Rubin Pritchard die during the ghost coon hunt in Where the Red Fern Grows?
He falls on an ax
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.
Q 03According to the legend in Where the Red Fern Grows, who alone can plant the seeds of a red fern?
An angel
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.
Q 04Which animal fatally wounds Old Dan while he defends Billy in Where the Red Fern Grows?
A mountain lion
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.
Q 05What finally topples the giant tree Billy chops at for two days in Where the Red Fern Grows?
A sudden wind
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.
Q 06Which rock bandleader plays Billy's father in the 2003 film version of Where the Red Fern Grows?
Dave Matthews
Dave Matthews, frontman of the Dave Matthews Band, plays Will Coleman, a farmer who cannot afford the hounds his son longs for.
Q 07Why does Little Ann die only days after Old Dan in the novel Where the Red Fern Grows?
She stops eating from grief
She stops eating from grief, and Billy finds her lying dead on Old Dan's grave. He buries the two hounds side by side.
Q 08In which state's stretch of the Ozarks does Billy grow up in the novel Where the Red Fern Grows?
Oklahoma
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.
Q 09In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does Billy decide to do with the treed ghost coon?
Let it live
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.
Q 10Which quality sets small Little Ann apart from the stronger Old Dan in Where the Red Fern Grows?
Her intelligence
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.
Q 11In Where the Red Fern Grows, where does Billy stash the coins he saves for two years to buy his pups?
A baking powder can
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.
Q 12To which town's depot does Billy walk through the night to collect his pups in Where the Red Fern Grows?
Tahlequah
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.
Q 13In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does the marshal buy Billy after rescuing him from bullies?
A bottle of soda pop
Q 21Which trophy does Billy promise to his youngest sister before winning it in Where the Red Fern Grows?
A gold cup
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.
Q 22What business does Billy's grandfather run, the hunters' gathering spot in Where the Red Fern Grows?
A general store
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.
Q 23In Where the Red Fern Grows, what injury does Grandpa suffer during the championship hunt?
A twisted ankle
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.
Q 14What shape surrounds the names Dan and Ann that Billy finds carved on a tree in Where the Red Fern Grows?
A heart
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.
Q 15Where does Billy find the magazine advertising hound pups for sale in Where the Red Fern Grows?
An abandoned fishing camp
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.
Q 16In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does Grandpa teach Billy to build to keep a treed raccoon from escaping?
A scarecrow
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.
Q 17What does Billy bend into a hook to pull Little Ann from a freezing river in Where the Red Fern Grows?
His lantern's handle
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.
Q 18Which hound belongs to Rubin and Rainie Pritchard, the rivals who dare Billy in Where the Red Fern Grows?
Old Blue
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.
Q 19In the novel Where the Red Fern Grows, where is the ghost coon finally found hiding?
In a hollow gatepost
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.
Q 20Which event does Little Ann win before the hunting starts at the championship in Where the Red Fern Grows?
The beauty contest
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.
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.
Q 24How are Old Dan and Little Ann found the morning after the blizzard in Where the Red Fern Grows?
Covered in ice
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.
Q 25Why do Billy's parents long to move to town in the novel Where the Red Fern Grows?
To educate the children
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.
Q 26In Where the Red Fern Grows, what does Billy say he no longer believes in after his dogs die?
Prayer
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.
Q 27In Where the Red Fern Grows, Billy's family farms land allotted to his mother through which Native American nation?
Cherokee
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.
Q 28What does barefoot Billy try out in the schoolyard during his trip to town in Where the Red Fern Grows?
A slide
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.
Q 29Where does Old Dan get stuck underground until Little Ann leads Billy to him in Where the Red Fern Grows?
A muskrat den
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.
Q 30Which author drew on his own Ozark boyhood to write the beloved novel Where the Red Fern Grows?
Wilson Rawls
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.