Reading book response 3: Where The Red Fern Grows

In the last book response I posted, I left off where Billy's dogs Old Dan and Little Ann had treed a coon in the biggest tree on Billy's farm. Billy had been chopping at the tree for over a day because he promised his dogs "if they treed a coon he would do the rest. " He finally chopped it down after about a day and a half to two days. That hunt alone strengthened the bond between the three of them. Soon after, they started getting coon after coon. The fame of Billy and his dogs spread all throughout the Ozarks. But during the winter things almost took a turn for the worst. Billy and his dogs were hot on the trail of a coon, but the coon crossed a frozen river. When Little Ann ran across the river, the ice gave away. Billy tried to go out to her but he was too heavy for the ice. Little Ann was just barely hold on to the ice with her paws, and Billy couldn't do anything about it. Billy started to sob a bit but then just dropped to his knees and prayed to God for a miracle to help save his dog. Right then came the answer he was looking for. He used the handle from his lantern, and his shoe lace to tie the wire handle in the shape of a hook onto a cane pole. He then waded out in the freezing water and hooked his dog around the collar and pulled her out of the hole. Billy quickly started a fire to warm up Little Ann and get her blood flowing again. He had saved her. I really liked this part of the book, because it got me thinking. What would I have done if I were in that situation? I feel like I too would have turned to God for help. Thankfully though, I have never faced a situation like that. I hope no one will ever have to again.

(This picture almost matches the image of the river I had pictured in my head. Just imagine your dog or cat out in the middle of that. What would you do?)

Reading Response 2: Where the Red Fern Grows



Billy had now had his pups Old Dan and Little Ann for a couple weeks, he had been training them non-stop.  His Grandpa helped him build a trap to catch a coon in. He used this coon hide to train his dogs to track and pick up on a coon trail and track them out in the woods. He tried to imitate typical raccoon behavior, and pull some of their smart tricks when leaving a sent behind to train his dogs. Now the time has come for their first real hunt. He made a promise to them before they even started hunting. He told them "You guys put one in a tree, and I'll do the rest." Well it just so happens that his dogs "tree" the coon in the biggest tree in the woods. Billy calls it, "The Big Oak." He wasn't going to cut down the tree, because of how big it was. But when he saw the look in his dogs eyes, he remembered the promise he made them and decided to try to cut it down. I admire the love that Billy has for his dogs. It actually makes me think of the kind of love that I have for my dogs.

The book never actually says how big the tree is, but I can picture the base of the tree being about this wide, in my mind.



Reading Book Response

Reading Response 1: Where The Red Fern Grows

        My book started out with an old man named Billy Coleman. He was walking home when heard a bunch of dogs fighting. Being the dog lover that he is, he hurried over to break up the fight. It turned out to be one dog fighting five separate dogs. The dog that he saved was an old redbone coon hound. After he took the dog home and nursed it, he thought back to when he was a kid and how hard he had to  work for the two redbone coon hounds, Old Dan and Little Ann.

       

 

        Billy was just a 12 year old when he started his obsession with coon hunting dogs. He always went down to his grandpas store to here the other coon hunters tell their hunting stories. One day after a group of fishermen left their camp at the river near Billy's house, Billy went down to see if they left anything by accident. He found a Catalog that had a pair of Redbone coon hounds for sale for $50. So he worked for his father and neighbors on their farms and trapped coons to sell their hides for just a few cents a day and saved the money in a old can he had. He saved up for two years! Once he finally had the money, he snuck out of his house and went on a 20 mile overnight trip to the nearest town to pick up his pups. I'm not finished yet, but this is where I'm at so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

101 Things about me

1. I play Catcher on Parkview's Varsity baseball team.
2. I play Free Safety for Parkview's Varsity Football team, and was the leading tackler in the first game against Kickapoo!
3. I like to spend the majority of my time outside.
4. I like to Hunt, Fish, and Camp any time I get the chance.
5. I am a big New England Patriot fan.
6. My Fantasy football league is stacked with players
7. I have a 13 year old black lab named Lucky
8. I have a female English bulldog that weighs at least 60 pounds named Gracie
9. I have the second most tackles on Parkview's football team with 24 tackles.
10. I went to state in the National Archery in Schools Project 2 years ago.
11. I got lost from my family when we took a vacation to Europe.
12. I took a vacation to Florida this past summer.
13. I rode my first segway this past summer.
14. I did my first crossfit competition against grown men in August.
15. I have 2 interceptions in three games on the varsity football team.