Where the Red Fern Grows

1
Where the Red Fern Grows

• By Wilson Rawls

Background Information
2
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

3
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

4
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.

5
Setting of the novel

• Remember setting time and place
• Time Great Depression
• Place Oklahoma.Ozark Mountains

Ozark Mountains in the fall
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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
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More on The Great Depression

• 1929-1939
• "Black Thursday- October 24, 1929
• Worst economic disaster in American history
• New Deal
• Help from WWII

No job, no hope
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Facts About The Great Depression

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

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Facts continued

• Soup lines
• People often waited in line all day for a small
  meal
• Some had to pick through the trash for food

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Facts continued

• Things got worse
• The Dust Bowl
• Money in the bank?
• Hoovervilles
• Hoover Soup

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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

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This says it all
13
Theres 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

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Aint 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

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The Infamous Tree Bark
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Whose Behind That Mask?

• Raccoons
• Common in the Ozarks
• Black burglars mask
• Tail serves as a brace
• Climb trees to escape predators
• Wash their food

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The Scourge of the Mountains

• Lets begin with the roar and a video
• http//www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wild
  life/mountain_lion.php
• Diet Large mammals such as deerWill 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.

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More on the Scourge

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

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Now we are ready to read

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

20
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, howeverevery person who reads
  this book is touched by it and forever changed by
  the experience.

21
Time to Meet Billy

• I look forward to sharing this book with you.