Cover of Where the Red Fern Grows

Where the Red Fern Grows

by Wilson Rawls

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Among the most widely assigned — 5 curriculum lists · 5 states

#91 most-assigned book in America — on school reading lists in 5 states (2026-07-13 study of 13,258 assignments).

Grade placement varies by school — the median assigned book spans 4 grade levels (83% span three or more, across 13,258 source-cited assignments).

On reading-award lists:North Dakota Flicker Tale Children's Book AwardGreat Stone Face Book AwardMassachusetts Children's Book Award

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls is assigned in US schools at grades 4–7, with a Lexile measure of 700L. It appears across 5 curriculum references and 5 states, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.

This page shows where Where the Red Fern Grows is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.

Lexile
700L
AR (ATOS)
AR 4.9 · 11 pts
Grade range
Grades 4–7
Difficulty for grade
Below the grade 4–5 band (740–1010L)
Age range
Ages 9–13
Pages
245
Reading time
about 4h 30m (est.)
First published
1961
Genre
Children's Fiction
ISBN-13
9780553274295

Reading difficulty: At 700L, Where the Red Fern Grows reads below the typical 740–1010L text-complexity range for 4th grade (Common Core Appendix A). It is an accessible read for the grade — often assigned for its themes and discussion value rather than for reading challenge.

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New to these terms? What is a Lexile level? · Reading levels by grade

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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.

Similar grade-level books

See all books like Where the Red Fern Grows→ — matched on theme + reading level.

Why widely assigned

This Children's Fiction title, reads at middle-grade prose complexity, typically at grades 4–7. Written in the 1960s; pairs with curriculum units on boy-and-dog bond and rural self-reliance; cited across 5 curriculum frameworks.

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 recommends age 10+.

Where this book is assigned

Where the Red Fern Grows by the numbers: pages, reading time and where it is listed, on Book Statistics.

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Common questions

What grade level is Where the Red Fern Grows?
Where the Red Fern Grows is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 4–7, with a Lexile measure of 700L. It appears on 5 school reading lists across 5 states. Exact placement varies by school and district.
What reading level is Where the Red Fern Grows?
Where the Red Fern Grows has a Lexile measure of 700L, an ATOS (Accelerated Reader) book level of 4.9, a typical US assignment range of grades 4–7. The AR quiz is worth 11 points at an interest level of middle grades (4–8). Lexile is published by MetaMetrics and the ATOS level by Renaissance; they are different scales, so the two numbers are not interchangeable.
What is the Lexile level of Where the Red Fern Grows?
Where the Red Fern Grows has a Lexile measure of 700L according to MetaMetrics. Lexile measures text complexity, not content maturity — check the grade range and content notes separately for age-appropriateness.
How long does it take to read Where the Red Fern Grows?
It takes about 4h 30m to read Where the Red Fern Grows (245 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 270 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
Is Where the Red Fern Grows hard to read for 4th grade?
At 700L, Where the Red Fern Grows reads below the typical 740–1010L text-complexity range for 4th grade (Common Core Appendix A). It is an accessible read for the grade — often assigned for its themes and discussion value rather than for reading challenge. Lexile measures text complexity, not thematic maturity — check the content notes for age-appropriateness separately.

Why this book is on this list

How we classify

Each dimension below is sourced from a public reference. The full framework is documented on the classification standard page.

Lexile measure
700L — sourced from MetaMetrics’ Lexile Hub.
AR (ATOS) book level
4.9 — 11 AR points, interest level middle grades (4–8). Sourced from Renaissance’s AR BookFinder (quiz no. 95), matched on exact title and author. ATOS and Lexile are separate scales and do not convert.
Grade band
Grades 4–7 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
Curriculum alignment
Cited in 5 curricula on this site (see “Where assigned” above for primary-source links).
State-level evidence
Cited in 5 states ELA frameworks or DOE list (see citations above).
Removal / banning records
No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
Seasonal / contextual tags
Tagged for: award-winner, book-club, summer.

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