# Where the Red Fern Grows

**Author:** Wilson Rawls
**Lexile:** 700L
**Grade range:** Grades 4–7
**Age range:** 9–13
**First published:** 1961
**Page count:** 245
**Genre:** Children's Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780553274295`
**ISBN-10:** `0553274295`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/where-the-red-fern-grows
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Billy Colman, a boy in Depression-era Ozarks, saves up for two Redbone Coonhounds and trains them for raccoon hunts. Rawls's novel is a common 5th-6th grade read-aloud and sees periodic renewals of popularity as a reluctant-reader classic.

## Themes

- boy-and-dog bond
- rural self-reliance
- perseverance
- grief
- family
- coming of age

## Content notes

- animal death (central)
- hunting violence
- grief

Common Sense Media age recommendation: 10+

## Where this book is assigned

### Common Core State Standards (ELA)

- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: CCSS ELA Appendix B, grades 4-5 exemplar](https://achievethecore.org/page/2699)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Texas — [source: TX common summer-reading list — rising 5th grade](https://tea.texas.gov/)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · Oklahoma — [source: Oklahoma Academic Standards grade 6 aligned text (Ozarks setting)](https://sde.ok.gov/)

### Great Stone Face Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)
- **recommended** · 7th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)

### Massachusetts Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade · Massachusetts — [source: Massachusetts Children's Book Award winners (Salem State University), via Goodreads award record — 1987](https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/4054-massachusetts-children-s-book-award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Massachusetts — [source: Massachusetts Children's Book Award winners (Salem State University), via Goodreads award record — 1987](https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/4054-massachusetts-children-s-book-award)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · Massachusetts — [source: Massachusetts Children's Book Award winners (Salem State University), via Goodreads award record — 1987](https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/4054-massachusetts-children-s-book-award)

### North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade · North Dakota — [source: North Dakota Library Association — Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (student-choice; annual since 1978; Juvenile/Chapter + Intermediate + Older-Reader divisions); winner roll 1978-2025](https://ndla.info/Flicker-Tale-Past-Winners)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · North Dakota — [source: North Dakota Library Association — Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (student-choice; annual since 1978; Juvenile/Chapter + Intermediate + Older-Reader divisions); winner roll 1978-2025](https://ndla.info/Flicker-Tale-Past-Winners)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · North Dakota — [source: North Dakota Library Association — Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (student-choice; annual since 1978; Juvenile/Chapter + Intermediate + Older-Reader divisions); winner roll 1978-2025](https://ndla.info/Flicker-Tale-Past-Winners)
- **recommended** · 7th grade · North Dakota — [source: North Dakota Library Association — Flicker Tale Children's Book Award (student-choice; annual since 1978; Juvenile/Chapter + Intermediate + Older-Reader divisions); winner roll 1978-2025](https://ndla.info/Flicker-Tale-Past-Winners)

---

_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. For the full HTML view with reading-list cross-references, see https://readinglist.school/book/where-the-red-fern-grows._