The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog

"Hank the Cowdog here, Head of Ranch Security..." These words are the words that began every family road trip I went on as a child. The day before we left my mother would head to library to stock up on Hank the Cowdog books on tape. We loved them! They made the trip seem shorter, and we would even sit in the car to listen for a few more minutes even after we arrived. So when I went to the library to get my books for the week I felt like I was reliving a fun memory from my childhood. The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog is the first of a fifty-seven book series. It introduces a Texas panhandle world of memorable characters including the star Hank the cowdog, and his sidekick Drover. The chaos starts when Drover confuses a cow for a monster. Next the duo find a dead chicken that is too tasty for Hank to resist. He eats it, and ends up getting blamed for the chickens death. Hank decides he must leave the ranch in his shame. Hank has a tangle with a group of wild coyotes and some how finds himself engaged to one of them. Hank is saved when a gun goes of and startles the coyotes. He then decides he can reinstate himself as Head of Ranch Security. 

This book is a wonderful way to get children excited about reading chapter books. I think it would be a good idea to have a library raffle where this first book in the Hank the Cowdog series is raffled off to a young reader in the hopes that after reading this book they would be excited to continue the series. 

PROFESSIONAL BOOK REVIEW FROM USA TODAY

Hank is a scruffy, smart-alecky supersleuth with a nose for danger and an eye for the ladies. And as Head of Ranch Security on a West Texas ranch, he's usually up to his ears in all kinds of amusing trouble. Whether he's called upon to bark up the sun, investigate suspicious goings-on, or defend the ranch against marauders, Hank's hilarious, hair-raising adventures will delight readers young and old alike. 

Erickson, J. R. (1983). Hank the Cowdog;The original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog . Texas: Maverick Books.