书名：Where the Red Fern Grows 红色羊齿草的故乡
读者对象：8-12岁
难度：Lexile蓝思阅读指数700L
作者：Wilson Rawls 威尔逊·罗尔斯
出版社名称：Yearling
出版时间：1996
语种：英文 
ISBN：9780440412670
商品尺寸：13.2 x 1.8 x 19.4 cm
包装：平装
页数：304

Where the Red Fern Grows《红色羊齿草的故乡》是美国著名儿童文学作家威尔逊·罗尔斯的代表作之一，书中的故事发生在20世纪30年代的大萧条时期。它所体现的勇敢、坚定、拼搏、进取、忠诚、友爱的精神鼓舞了几代美国少年，它所描绘的艰辛、酸涩却充满快乐和惊喜的童年引起所有读者的共鸣，因此成为畅销不衰的文学经典。

推荐理由：
1. 故事感人至深，主题意义深远，《朗读手册Ⅱ》推荐读物；
2. 本版本由纽伯瑞奖获奖作者Clare Vanderpool（著有《阿比琳的夏天》）作序；
3. 英文原版，阅读难度不大，纸质护眼。

★美国当代经典青少年动物小说之一
★与《小王子》《夏洛的网》《神奇的收费亭》并列20世纪50本童书
★影响中国教师的教育经典《朗读手册Ⅱ》感动推荐
★美国国家教育委员会评选孩子喜欢的英文童书
★纽约公共图书馆公投受欢迎儿童文学
★美国国家图书馆协会推荐童书
★埃文斯维尔图书奖
★密歇根州青少年读者奖
★北达科他州高年级儿童读物奖
★马萨诸塞州第十二届儿童图书奖
★新罕布什尔州大石面奖

媒体评论
“同杰克·伦敦的《荒野的呼唤》和埃里克·奈特的《灵犬莱西》一样，《红色羊齿草的故乡》是美国伟大的关于狗的故事之一。”——《朗读手册Ⅱ》

“我以我全部的思想与灵魂深爱着《红色羊齿草的故乡》。上学时，老师把这本书读给我听，现在，我把它读给孩子们听。它拥有令读者感动落泪的巨大力量，这种力量让人无从抗拒。”——特斯·阿方索（美国青少年阅读与写作教师）

“我流着泪读完了《红色羊齿草的故乡》。直到今天，想到老丹和小安，我仍然忍不住热泪盈眶。在图书馆里，这本书的复印本也总是被借阅一空。我甚至会在书页上提醒读者：请准备好纸巾！”——冈村迪安（美国加州圣马特奥公共图书馆馆员）

“我热爱这本书，不仅因为它迷人的故事，也因为它对美国历史片断的捕捉与留存。它是一个时代的压缩容器，正是这个时代的精神造就了这个国家。主人公所拥有的爱、信仰、责任、诚实、勇气与坚持有广度，有深度，有份量，令人敬畏。在那个朴素的年代，人们平和、谦逊，却扮演着凡人中的英雄角色。”——美国读者

“这个温暖心灵的故事是我的*爱。它会让你一遍一遍地读。我读了三十多遍，每一次都感动落泪。”——英国读者

“关于爱与冒险，一个精彩绝伦的故事，令人难以忘怀！”——《学校图书馆杂志》

“这本书毫无疑问是我读过很不同寻常的一本书。第一次读到，我就深爱上它。我读了十二遍，对于老丹和小安从不感到厌倦。这本书感人，充满冒险元素，爱意浓浓，而又令人心碎，你会完全沉浸其中而不自知。我把这本书推荐给每一个人。如果错过它，就会错过伟大的书之一。”——美国读者 Matt
For fans of Old Yeller and Shiloh,Where the Red Fern Grows is a beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man’s best friend. This edition also includes a special note to readers from Newbery Medal winner and Printz Honor winner Clare Vanderpool.
Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he’s finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own—Old Dan and Little Ann—he’s ecstatic. It doesn’t matter that times are tough; together they’ll roam the hills of the Ozarks.
Soon Billy and his hounds become the finest hunting team in the valley. Stories of their great achievements spread throughout the region, and the combination of Old Dan’s brawn, Little Ann’s brains, and Billy’s sheer will seems unbeatable. But tragedy awaits these determined hunters—now friends—and Billy learns that hope can grow out of despair, and that the seeds of the future can come from the scars of the past.
Praise forWhere the Red Fern Grows 
A Top 100 Children’s Novel, School Library Journal
A Must-Read for Kids 9 to 14, NPR
Winner of 4 State Awards
Over 7 million copies in print!
“A rewarding book . . . [with] careful, precise observation, all of it rightly phrased.”  — The New York Times Book Review
“One of the great classics of children’s literature . . . Any child who doesn’t get to read this beloved and powerfully emotional book has missed out on an important piece of childhood for the last 40-plus years.” — Common Sense Media
“An exciting tale of love and adventure you’ll never forget.”  — School Library Journal
“A book of unadorned naturalness.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Written with so much feeling and sentiment that adults as well as children are drawn [in] with a passion.”  — Arizona Daily Star

小男孩比利生长于美国奥沙克山区（位于美国密苏里州和阿肯色州之间），家境贫寒。他非常渴望要一对可以捕捉浣熊的小猎犬，但是由于那种小猎犬价格不菲，他几次哀求要买小狗都被父母拒绝了。后来，他从捡来的杂志上看到广告，可以从肯塔基买到这种小狗，但要花50美元。年仅十一岁的比利捡草莓，卖小动物的皮，经过了两年的努力工作，在爷爷的帮助下，邮购买下了两只小猎犬：老丹和小安。
他们一起度过了一段共同捕捉浣熊的美好时光，结下生死与共的友谊。无论是到黑漆漆的大山里还是到结冰的河里去寻找浣熊，这两只小猎犬都如影随形地跟着比利，小安负责寻找浣熊，而老丹则负责捕捉它们，不论是多大的浣熊，老丹都尽力捉住。他们在奥沙克山区赢得了非常好的团队名声，并且获得了猎浣熊比赛的大奖。
在一次出猎时，他们遇到山狮，为了保护小主人比利，两只小猎犬力博山狮，赢得了胜利。不幸的是，老丹在搏斗中受重伤死去。之后不久，小安也绝食离开人世，死在了老丹的坟前。
比利非常难过地将它们合葬在一起，没多久，两只小狗的坟墓上长出现漂亮的红色羊齿草。在当地的印第安传说中，红色羊齿草是天使播下的种子。也许，那两只小狗真的是天使送给比利的礼物。
不久，比利一家用老丹和小安打猎和获奖挣来的钱搬到了城里，实现了父母长久以来的心愿——让孩子们去城里接受更好的教育，而两只猎犬则长眠于红色羊齿草下，那里也埋藏着比利的童年。
家境贫寒的一家人，却互敬互爱、积极乐观、其乐融融；其貌不扬的小猎犬，却聪慧灵敏、英勇无畏、深情忠诚；小小年纪的比利，却用超出常人的毅力和勇气实现了自己的梦想，并在与猎犬的相处中领悟到不畏艰险的拼搏精神、一诺千金的责任感和矢志不渝的友情。
Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann — a boy and his two dogs.
A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee country. Old Dan had the brawn, Little Ann had the brains, and Billy had the will to make them into the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too.
Where the Red Fern Grows is an exciting tale of love and adventure you’ll never forget.

威尔逊·罗尔斯（Wilson Rawls，1913-1984），美国著名儿童文学作家。1913年出生于美国俄克拉荷马州的一个小农场里。威尔逊从小喜欢打猎，常常带着自己的猎犬在故乡美丽的山野间狩猎。猎犬不仅是威尔逊童年时代的朋友，也是他无穷无尽的纯真故事的倾听者。山间小路与白沙河床，是他人生初始的书写纸。愉快的童年生活成为威尔逊文学创作的灵感源泉。
《红色羊齿草的故乡》是威尔逊的成名作，也是他知名的作品，在世界各地拥有近50个版本，多年来畅销不衰，两次被搬上银幕，成为美国经典青少年动物小说。他的作品还有《夏日历险》等，均被翻译成多种文字出版，并获得众多文学奖。
Wilson Rawlsgrew up on a small farm in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma. There were no schools where he lived so his mother taught Rawls and his sisters how to read and write. He says that reading the bookThe Call of the Wild changed his life and gave him the notion that he would like to grow up to write a book like it. He shared his dream with his father, and his father gave him the encouraging advice, “Son, a man can do anything he sets out to do, if he doesn’t give up.” Rawls never forgot his father’s words, and went on to create two novels about his boyhood that have become modern classics.

WHEN I LEFT MY OFFICE THAT BEAUTIFUL SPRING DAY, I HAD no idea what was in store for me. To begin with, everything was too perfect for anything unusual to happen. It was one of those days when a man feels good, feels like speaking to his neighbor, is glad to live in a country like ours, and proud of his government. You know what I mean, one of those rare days when everything is right and nothing is wrong.
I was walking along whistling when I heard the dogfight. At first I paid no attention to it. After all it wasn’t anything to get excited about, just another dogfight in a residential section.
As the sound of the fight grew nearer, I could tell there were quite a few dogs mixed up in it. They boiled out of an alley, turned, and headed straight toward me. Not wanting to get bitten or run over, I moved over to the edge of the sidewalk.
I could see that all the dogs were fighting one. About twenty-five feet from me they caught him and down he went. I felt sorry for the unfortunate one. I knew if something wasn’t done quickly the sanitation department would have to pick up a dead dog.
I was trying to make up my mind to help when I got a surprise. Up out of that snarling, growling, slashing mass reared an old redbone hound. For a second I saw him. I caught my breath. I couldn’t believe what I had seen.
Twisting and slashing, he fought his way through the pack and backed up under the low branches of a hedge. Growling and snarling, they formed a halfmoon circle around him. A big bird dog, bolder than the others, darted in. The hedge shook as he tangled with the hound. He came out so fast he fell over backwards. I saw that his right ear was split wide open. It was too much for him and he took off down the street, squalling like a scalded cat.
A big ugly cur tried his luck. He didn’t get off so easy. He came out with his left shoulder laid open to the bone. He sat down on his rear and let the world know that he had been hurt.
By this time, my fighting blood was boiling. It’s hard for a man to stand and watch an old hound fight against such odds, especially if that man has memories in his heart like I had in mine. I had seen the time when an old hound like that had given his life so that I might live.
Taking off my coat, I waded in. My yelling and scolding didn’t have much effect, but the swinging coat did. The dogs scattered and left.
Down on my knees, I peered back under the hedge. The hound was still mad. He growled at me and showed his teeth. I knew it wasn’t his nature to fight a man.
In a soft voice, I started talking to him. “Come on, boy,” I said. “It’s all right. I’m your friend. Come on now.”
The fighting fire slowly left his eyes. He bowed his head and his long, red tail started thumping the ground. I kept coaxing. On his stomach, an inch at a time, he came to me and laid his head in my hand.