Where The Red Fern Grows is the story of a boy named Billy Colman who lives with his family in the Ozarks. More than anything Billy wants a pair of hounds, but his family can't afford them so he works odd jobs for two years, saves his money, and eventually is able to buy two redbone coonhound pups for $40. He trains them to hunt raccoons, and they are soon turning a tidy profit selling pelts. They become so skilled that Billy's grandfather enters them in a championship coon hunt.
The film follows the book fairly closely, though the character of Billy's mother in the movie seems quite a bit different than in the book, as I remember anyway... it's been a while. Also, the characters of the two dogs- Old Dan and Little Ann- weren't developed as they were in the novel, and there were some changes to the results of the championship which I thought were unnecessary, though I can see why they made them. All in all though, it's a pretty good movie about a boy growing up and learning about responsibility, hard work, sacrifice, and loss.