Reading THAT book with your kids.

JK Rowling said, “I think it’s the books that you read when you’re young that live with you forever.”

My 2 oldest kids are in Battle of the Books. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s an after-school club with a 3^rd and 4^th grade team and a 5^th and 6^th grade team. Each team is split up into groups of 5 or 6 kids and each group is assigned 5 books to read. They are to become experts about their books. They then “battle” against teams from other schools to see which team knows the books best. It’s a great way to introduce your kids to a variety of books and put their comprehension to the test!

My kids love to read, so this club felt like an obvious fit. Most of them can be found at any time of day with their nose in a book. In an effort to spend time with them, I try to read chapter books aloud to my kids as much as I can. It is one of my favorite things to experience a book with them. Getting to love the characters and discussing their turmoil, the shock of a good plot twist, the angst of the chapter’s final cliff-hanger. So good. All of it. So, you can imagine my delight when my 9-year-old asked if I would read, “Where the Red Fern Grows,” with her. Absolutely!!

Oh.

Wait.

Yep…

That book.

“Oh, you have to read it for Battle of the Books?”

I immediately tried to remember if I had even read the book or just knew the story. I knew I had seen the movie a handful of times when I was young.

Anyway, the book felt slow at first, hard to get interested in it. My daughter and I have read enough books together (and separately) to know that some books just make you work harder for them. Like any good friendship with a rocky start.

Somewhere around chapter 10 she was hooked and so was I. I realized a couple of chapters later that after my 11-year-old started joining us to listen that my other kids were coming in too. My 7, 5, and 3-year-old cuties were all gathered around with various pillows on the floor, cars in hand or a blanket sprawled out all to get to know Billy and his dogs. I will not lie. I initially worried about the crowd. “This is a sad book,” I thought. “They don’t need to be exposed to this!” But, barring mature content, I couldn’t imagine telling my younger kids not to come and be apart of it. So, we read.

Most nights for a couple of weeks we’d lay on my bed and experience the thrill of a good coon hunt. We smiled as we heard of smart Little Ann and shook our heads at stubborn Old Dan.

At some point I realized that I hadn’t read the book before. There are themes in it that were hard to read, but good. Billy experiences difficult things as he seeks to rescue his dogs a handful of times and often turns to God in prayer. His love for his grandfather, Papa, Mama, and little sisters are pure goodness.

At some point I offered a word of warning to my kids, “This book is depressing.” I’m sure the younger ones didn’t understand.  My older kids asked why and I just told them to wait for it.

Finally, it happened.

If you do not know the story and are looking to read it, you can go ahead and bookmark this post for another time.

Billy and his dogs won the big coon hunt!! It was magical! It was amazing! It was seriously joyful! My 9-year-old and 7-year-old were grinning from ear to ear! There were only 2 chapters left after that. I knew we had to stop. I wanted to go to bed on a high note. They begged me to read one more chapter…I gave in. If I’m honest, part of me couldn’t bare the anticipation of it any longer. We read on. The dogs fought the mountain lion, that “devil cat.” Old Dan is fatally wounded. My 7-year-old son can’t handle it. He weeps. Seeing his heart break so fully for the loss made me weep too. I put my arm around him as I read on. My 9-year-old daughter leaned on my shoulder. We cried and mourned together. Then Little Ann died. Billy was also heartbroken.

My kids learned a special kind of empathy in that chapter.

The beauty of the legend of the red fern helped bring solace to us as we finished the book.

I hugged my kids and said, “Did you even know a book could make you feel so strongly?” To which my 7-year-old son replied, “Not at all!!”

But really, he did. He’s laughed at plenty of books, smiled, been nervous, excited, it’s all there.

My 11-year-old said it’s the saddest book he’s ever read. That guy has read a lot of books.

All of this to say, my friends, that although I had my doubts, I am so glad I read that book with them. Yes, they cried—my 7-year-old felt it deeply, having totally fallen in love with those dogs, no doubt imagining himself as Billy. But they worked through it. We discussed difficult topics. Topics that life will expose them to regardless of my wanting to shield them from it. It opened the door for us to discuss heartache later on in their lives. And they saw me get attached too. They know it is ok to feel sad.

And although it may have felt daunting at first, I’m so glad I could help them navigate those feelings.

I think JK Rowling is right. I’m just glad that I get to be a small part of that lasting memory for them.

So if you’re looking for a new chapter book to read with your people, give it a try!! And share your favorite reads in the comments!! I’m always on the hunt for our next great adventure!