Old Yeller (Perennial Classics) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Fred Gipson, Steven Polson
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $8.00
Buy New: $2.90
You Save: $5.10 (64%)
New (36) Used (24) Collectible (1) from $1.97
Rating:  123 reviews
Sales Rank: 17490
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Pages: 144
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.4
ISBN: 0060935472
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780060935474
ASIN: 0060935472
Publication Date: May 1, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: remainder mark
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 A Story of Great Animal Compassion July 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book is about a wonderful dog named Old Yeller. The book is a little too violent with things such as: bull fights, hog attacks, etc., but the good deeds of the dog Old Yeller make this story seem special. In the beginning the dog did not seem so good. He did things like bark, yell, and steal meat, but then the good part comes out when he saves lives. I feel some of the really violent things could have been eliminated because they make this story scary. At the chapter before the last, a mad loafer wolf wants to attack Travis's family, so Old Yeller goes and fights the wolf. The sad thing is that poor Old Yeller catches rabies from this wolf. It turns out that Old Yeller sacrifices his life for his owners.
This part really does make you feel sad, but if you like stories about kind animal acts, and you do not get scared easily, then this is the book for you.
 One of thhe best ever "boy and his dog" stories May 29, 2008
Trixie (USA)
I read this book about three times as a child. It's a book that any dog lover can relate to, and presents it in such a way that children have loved it for decades. Must read for young (and old!) dog lovers!
 Can't rate the title because I never received my book. March 7, 2008
Tamra Ruymann
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am a little irritated with Amazon. I ordered two books at once and received one but the other went to a different town and then was sent back. I could not find anywhere on the web site that I could contact anyone. I think customer service should be reviewed.
What Movie? December 11, 2007
T. Leach (Mid-West)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I know that this was made into a movie but I am not sure that I have seen it. I have some vague recollection that it's a Disney movie (so it must therefore be heartwarming, and also be the topic of a ride somewhere), and the actor who plays the protagonist Travis looks goofy. Most folks know the story already or will know it well enough after reading one or two of these reviews. Yes, it's about a boy and an unattractive yellow dog, and yes it has a sad turn of events. I can't say that this story or the storytelling is masterful, but there is a style of delivery in this book that is quite intriguing and no one comments on it. The circumstances of the story are quite rough. A young boy is left in charge of his mother and little brother in the wild Texas hill country while his father, relunctantly, must pursue a little gain on a cattle drive to Kansas. This is no small task, and long before the book is over, we see that at least two or maybe all three of the mother and kids would have died but for the happenstance appearance of said yellow dog (also noteworthy is the generosity and insight of the cowpoke who actually owned the dog but let Travis keep him). The life is hard and matter-of-fact, and the writing reflects it. The animals live in a practically different world, where life depends on instincts, species hate and kill other species and sometimes their own, and even bloodborne diseases have a scent that only dogs can detect. It's brutal. Old Yeller, our hero, bridges this world, and willingly devotes all of his animal kingdom powers for the protection of the humans that he inexplicably adopts and serves. The relationship between boy and dog is always a bit beyond the reader's reach. We never see these two playing fetch or lounging around under a tree. Their bond is one that is forged in combat and hard labor, and this hard practicality might ultimately explain Travis' ability to rationally and quickly make the hard decision to kill his pet. I don't think that it's a spoiler to state here that Travis must, in the end, destroy this animal - Gipson reveals that ending in the very first page of the book (and it is at the point of that destruction where the four great characters of this book - boy, dog, gun, and disease - collide). So, this is a world where the animals are the most cunning, strong, and fearsome, but it's a world that is dominated by Man, and in the end the loyal Old Yeller doesn't even know what hits him. That scene is revealed without sentiment or unnecessary drama.
One other thing. I wonder if it is this book, printed in the late 1950's, that "taught" popular culture everything that it knows about the dreaded hydrophobia. Growing up in the 1970's, I thought that rabies was everywhere, and that the only thing between you and going mad with foaming thirst was the time it would take for any old squirrel to drop on your head and dig in. Of course I also thought that finding a dead Bigfoot was only a matter of time, and that eating Pop-Rocks and drinking a Coke would make your abdomen explode. There must have been some other sources of this rabies phobia though, as this book did not go into any detail about some three week regimine of shots to the belly button in order to cure the disease once afflicted.
Anyway, good book. Read it to my three pre-teens and they loved it.
Who hasen't read this great book? September 15, 2007
Janet Graves
I actually got a few chuckles out of this book as well as quite a few tears at the end (who DOESN'T know what happens in the end?) of coarse. From what I can remember about this book, is that you can actually UNDERSTAND the speaking and of their way of life [to a certain extent(thanks Mr. Rayburn)] which makes reading it a whole lot easier. A must-read. For all ages (I think).
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