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When a novel like Huckleberry Finn, or The Yearling, comes along it defies customary adjectives because of the intensity of the respouse it evokes in the reader. Such a book, we submit, is Old Yeller; to read this eloquently simple story of a boy and his dog in the Texas hill country is an unforgettable and deeply moving experience.
When his father sets out on a cattle drive for the summer, fourteen-year-old Travis is left to take care of his family and their farm, and he faces new, unanticipated and often perilous responsibilities in the wilderness of early fronteir Texas. But Travis is not alone. He finds help and comfort in the courage and unwavering love of the stray animal who comes to be his most loyal and very best friend: the big yellow dog Travis calls "Old Yeller."
An enduring and award-winning American classic, Fred Gipson's Old Yeller stands as one of the most beloved novels ever produced in this country, and one that will live in the hearts and minds of readers for generations to come.
A most memorable book of my childhood. The ending was stark -- much harder than the end of the movie, which was changed somewhat, to impress on the children in the audience that it had to be done. (Trying to avoid a spoiler here.) ( )
Old Yeller is yet another children's classic I'd never read before now. I don't think I've watched the movie either, but of course I knew how it ends. However, I didn't expect the entire book to basically be just about getting to that ending. It's even stated on the first page that the narrator, Travis, would end up having to kill this stray. For me, that definitely dampened the enjoyment of the story of Travis and Old Yeller becoming good friends. What bothered me the most, though, was Travis's little brother Arliss. Oh my goodness, that kid is annoying! Every time he gets upset about something, he gets violent, even with his own mother. And it basically goes unchecked. It just all seems extreme and unnecessary. And in the end, I was left wondering what the author's intention was in writing this book. And would it have been such a classic if it weren't for the tragic ending? Take that away, and you just have the story of a boy and his dog, which has been done. ( )
Published in the 1950's, Old Yeller has been a household book that families have enjoyed for decades, and I'm sure it will be a classic for many more years to come in the future. The main character in this book is Travis Coates a 14 year old boy who has been given a request by his dad to take care of the family while he is gone from the family farm. Travis slowly learns what love, responsibility, and loyalty are all about. Will he do everything at his young age to be considered a man in his father and mother's eyes. Only the pages will reveal the answers.
For my father and mother, Beck and Emma Gipson, whose memorable tales of frontier dogs supplied me with incident and background for this story.
First words
We called him Old Yeller. The name had a sort of double meaning. One part meant that his short hair was a dingy yellow, a color that we called "yeller" in those days. The other meant that when he opened his head, the sound he let out came closer to being a yell than a bark.
Quotations
I reloaded my gun and called Old Yeller back from the house. I stuck the muzzle of the gun against his head and pulled the trigger.
Last words
But the way I figured it, if he was big enough to act like Old Yeller, he was big enough to start learning to earn his keep.
When a novel like Huckleberry Finn, or The Yearling, comes along it defies customary adjectives because of the intensity of the respouse it evokes in the reader. Such a book, we submit, is Old Yeller; to read this eloquently simple story of a boy and his dog in the Texas hill country is an unforgettable and deeply moving experience.
When his father sets out on a cattle drive for the summer, fourteen-year-old Travis is left to take care of his family and their farm, and he faces new, unanticipated and often perilous responsibilities in the wilderness of early fronteir Texas. But Travis is not alone. He finds help and comfort in the courage and unwavering love of the stray animal who comes to be his most loyal and very best friend: the big yellow dog Travis calls "Old Yeller."
An enduring and award-winning American classic, Fred Gipson's Old Yeller stands as one of the most beloved novels ever produced in this country, and one that will live in the hearts and minds of readers for generations to come.
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Book description
It was lucky that old yellow-haired dog came along. Travis couldn't have managed without him. When his dad goes off on a cattle drive, 14-year-old Travis is left in charge. First a bear attacks his kid brother...then he hears about a terrifying disease that turns animals and humans into mad creatures! Before his dad returns, that 'Old Yellow' dog has become the best-loved friend a boy could ever want.
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