The author of that timeless novel for young readers was Woodrow Wilson Rawls, the "Woody" in the title of this picture book. WOODY'S WORDS: Woodrow Wilson Rawls and WHERE THE RED FERN RED FERN GROWS is a biography of the author, but also a celebration of the power of reading and writing. Actually, the focus is on a boy-grown-to-man and his drive to tell stories. Reading books changed his young life, and he vowed, "I don't care how long it takes me or what I have to do. Someday I will write a book, and it will have a dog in it." That powerful quotation appears on the title page in this picture book written by Lisa Rogers and illustrated by Susan Reagan. CALKINS CREEK BOOKS, 2025
I can hardly imagine that anyone raised in this country has not read (or heard aloud, or watched on film) WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS. It is, indeed, a book, and it does, most certainly, center on a dog ands a boy. Woody's ancestors were Cherokee, and he grew up on family land assigned to those ancestors when they were relocated from their own territories.
His education was at his mother's knee, and not only in simple reading and writing and arithmetic. When she first read a novel aloud to him, (The Call of the Wild) it transformed his sense of purpose. The simple and accessible narrative text in this biography reveals Woody's deep engagement in rereading that book and then in writing and rewriting the world as he lived it, even when his available tools were limited to scratching words into soft mud with the point of a stick. For anyone who says it takes time and patience to become the kind of writer and storyteller who can win hearts, they could have been speaking about Woody.
Woody grew up in hard times and spent many young (and later) years bumming from town to town, from jail cell to jail cell, suffering from a lack of food or money but never lacking a good heart. No matter where or in what conditions he found himself, the stories moved through his mind and onto the page, even when those pages were soiled paper bags. He kept his attempts for many years, until he met and married.
He was so ashamed of what he considered his poor efforts that he burned all of the saved writings rather than show them to the woman he loved. After eventually confessing his need and desire to write a book, Sophie worked with him, correcting spelling and polishing some sentences. That finally-ready manuscript became a book, and he wanted people to read it. In his folksy, plain-spoken way, he visited schools and libraries and met readers where they were. Once he talked about his youth and his effort (over forty years) to produce a story of a boy, his dog, and life in the country, readers sought out his book and joined him in the story.
The account of Woody and Sophie and their eventual success is both heartwarming and inspiring. Back matter provides more details, as well as photographs of moments before and after his book became an all-time success. His next book, SUMMER OF THE MONKEYS, also featured a boy and his dog. Both books sold millions of copies. Multiple pages of resources and research references attest to the depth of story-searching by Rogers. The illustrator's colors, sweeps of landscape, and suggestions of struggle have captured an authentic sense of rural life in the era and the yearning within a boy/man who had something to say. It was clear with every word and image that Woody felt inadequate as a writer, but never gave up on his dream to share his stories in a way that made them last.
Rogers wrote a dedication that hints at how moved she was by the storytelling drive of Rawls:
"For those who have stories to tell and the librarians who celebrate them" then named several important librarians from her own life.
The structure of this narrative and account of Rawls's life holds no surprises, but the direct and simple language and sequential revelations of his persistence and outreach are best suited to this simple and plainspoken man. It mirrors the steady pace of his personal journey and the glowing satisfaction of his eventual success.
WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS has been a part of my literary life, but now Woody brings me back to reread it and to wonder at his determination and at the satisfaction he was finally able to achieve.
