Old+Yeller

Old Yeller By Fred Gipson Illustrated by Carl Burger



Title: Old Yeller Author: Fred Gipson Illustrator: Carl Burger Reading Level: Grades 5 and up Age Range: 8-12 years Paperback: 192 pages Publisher: HarperCollins; 1956 Language: English ISBN: 978-0064403825
 * Bibliographic Data: **

//Old Yeller// is a children’s literature novel about the main character, Travis, and his relationship with a dog, known as Old Yeller due to his “yeller” appearance. The story takes place in Texas in the 1860s, and begins with Travis’s father leaving 14-year old Travis to look after his mom and brother while Travis’s father goes to Kansas for a year-long cattle drive. Before Papa leaves, Travis asks for a horse, and Papa responds by saying a dog will do just fine. Coincidentally, a dog shows up the next day. Travis initially doesn’t like the dog because he steals and eats that morning’s meat. However, Arliss, Travis’s brother, likes the dog, and Travis’s mother lets him keep it. Travis learns to like and appreciate Old Yeller once he sees the dog save Arliss from a bear. Travis and Old Yeller start doing everything together, including hunting and guarding the cornfield from varmints. Throughout the story, Old Yeller saves the life of additional characters, including Mama and Travis. One night, Old Yeller gets in a fight with a wolf, and ends up contracting rabies. Travis is forced to shoot Old Yeller so that the infection doesn’t spread. He becomes grief-stricken and depressed. Papa learns of the story of Old Yeller when he returns from the cattle drive with a horse for Travis, and says he is proud of Travis for what he did. In the end, Travis receives a puppy that looks like Old Yeller, which eventually raises him out of his depression and makes him realize that life is not all bad.
 * Summary: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">I remember reading //Old Yeller// in school; it was one of the books I read for a Battle of the Books competition. I fell in love with Old Yeller, and was completely heartbroken when he had to be killed. //Old Yeller// should ideally be introduced in middle school; most kids younger than that age may have a hard time dealing with the death of Old Yeller, especially because of the way in which it happens. The novel teaches its readers about a historical period in time, a dog’s companionship, and that life is full of ups and downs. Additionally, Gipson includes elements of surprise that make you want to refrain from putting the book down.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Book Review: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">American author Frederick Benjamin “Fred” Gipson was born on February 7, 1908 in Mason, TX. He worked as a farmer and a rancher before enrolling at the University of Texas at Austin in 1933. While in school, he wrote for the //Daily Texan// and //The Ranger//. He left school before graduating to become a newspaper journalist. Gipson’s first full-length book, //The Fabulous Empire: Colonel Zack Miller’s Story//, was published in 1946. His next book, //Hound-Dog Man// (1947), established his reputation. His best known book and most successful is //Old Yeller//. It was made into a Disney movie in 1957, and by 1973, nearly three million copies of the book had been sold. Gipson won many awards including the William Allen White Award, the first Sequoyah Award, the Television-Radio Annual Writers Award, and the Northwest Pacific Award. He died on August 14, 1973.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Author Bio: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Gipson incorporates many themes into //Old Yeller//, one of which is friendship. This friendship is depicted through Old Yeller and Travis. When Travis first encounters the dog, he isn’t too fond of him. However, once Travis sees Old Yeller save Arliss from a bear, he realizes that Old Yeller is good to have around. Travis and Old Yeller soon become inseparable, as Old Yeller is by Travis’s side when hunting, milking the cow, and defending the cornfield, which consist of Travis’s main activities on a daily basis. Travis recognizes how important Old Yeller is in his life, especially through the different times Old Yeller protects Travis and his family from death. The worst day of Travis’s life comes when he has to shoot Old Yeller; Travis was losing a friend. Through this novel, children can learn that sometimes you become friends with someone you’d least expect to become friends with. In addition, Old Yeller’s and Travis’s relationship teaches kids that an unwritten rule of friendship is to always be there for your friends; you should look out for them. Lastly, how Travis felt when Old Yeller died could symbolize how someone would feel if one of his or her best friends walked out of his or her life. Friends come and go; some people you thought you’d be friends with forever may only be in your life for a short chapter. While heartbreaking initially, you move on and realize it’s not the end of the world.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Literary Element Analysis: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">@http://www.mce.k12tn.net/dogs/yeller/old_yeller.htm
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Related Links: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Review done by: Jennifer Rochefort