To save his grandfather's Wyoming farm, ten-year-old Willy enters a dogsled race against the best racers around, with only his loyal dog Searchlight
One boy, one dog, one race
Little Willy lives with his grandfather on a potato farm near Jackson, Wyoming. One morning Grandfather will not get out of bed, and Willy learns the reason: the farm owes years of back taxes, and the tax collector is coming. The only hope is the prize money from the town's annual dogsled race, and the favourite is Stone Fox, a legendary racer who has never lost.
Who will enjoy it
Young readers ready for a short but powerful story, and families who loved Where the Red Fern Grows or Shiloh. Have tissues nearby.
What you will get
A short, gripping children's classic about a determined boy, his faithful dog and a sled race against a legend, with an ending that readers never forget.
Stone Fox Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · Dogsled race · Grandfather · Courage
Length
96 pages · ≈ 3 h
More about this book
Willy is a wonderfully stubborn hero. He harvests the potato crop himself, keeps the farm going, and takes every dollar he has saved to pay the race entry fee, even though everyone tells him a boy with one dog has no chance against full teams of strong racing dogs. Stone Fox, a tall and silent man, races to win money to buy back land for his people, so the story quietly gives both rivals a cause worth fighting for.
The book is barely more than a long short story, with plain sentences and brisk chapters that suit readers moving up from early chapter books. Yet Gardiner builds real tension: the snowy course, the crowd lining the route, the rival teams closing in, and Searchlight running with everything she has. The final pages are famous for good reason, and many adults still remember where they were when they first read them.
Parents should know that the ending is genuinely sad, though handled with dignity and grace. It is a moving way to talk with children about love, effort and loss. About 96 pages in the HarperTrophy paperback.
Where the Red Fern Grows
Shiloh
Old Yeller
Hatchet
Out of the Dust
Wolf Hollow
The Tale of Despereaux
The War That Saved My Life
Ella Enchanted
Bud, Not Buddy
Out of My Mind
Love That Dog