Hank the Cowdog is series of humorous children's

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 mystery novels, written by John R. Erickson

John R. Erickson

John R. Erickson is an American cowboy and author, best known for his classic children’s series, Hank the Cowdog.Erickson has written and published 75 books and more than 500 articles, and is best known as the author of the Hank the Cowdog books, audio-books, and stage plays...

 and illustrated by Gerald L. Holmes.
The series began in 1982 with a couple of short stories about the proud but bumbling Hank, the self-styled "Head of Ranch Security". Over 56 books have since been written featuring Hank, his timid sidekick Drover, his sworn enemy Pete the Barncat, and their adventures on the M-Cross ranch in the northern Texas Panhandle

Texas Panhandle

The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...

. Every book in the series has been recorded in an audio book

Audio book

An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...

 format, making it the longest-running popular children's audio book series. The books all include songs sung by Hank and other characters; these songs are all performed on the tapes by Erickson. It has received various awards and acclaims, lauded by Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...

 and USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

.

The Hank the Cowdog books are supplemented by teaching programs, and related lesson plans, which usually incorporate the books with cassette tapes. They are available through Maverick Books (the series' original publisher). The first six books have been translated into Spanish

Bilingual education

Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model.-Bilingual education program models:...

 by the Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 publisher Editorial Sudamericana. Series of his books are also translated into Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

 and are popular in Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

.

In the mid-1980s, the first book was also adapted into an animated segment for the CBS Storybreak

CBS Storybreak

CBS Storybreak is a Saturday morning anthology television series that originally aired on the CBS network during the 1985 season. Hosted by Captain Kangaroo's Bob Keeshan , the episodes are half-hour animated adaptations of some of the most beloved children's books published at the time of airing,...

.

Characters

Hank: Hank is the main character and narrator of each story in the Hank the Cowdog adventures. Hank claims to be a "purebred cowdog" but is in fact most likely a mutt. He styles himself as the "Head of Ranch Security" and conducts security sweeps and nightly patrols. However his real task is to serve as the assistant to Slim and Loper in herding cattle. Hank has a superiority complex which causes him to have an inflated sense of his own intelligence, strength, courage and attractiveness. As a result of this, Hank frequently finds himself in sticky situations, usually of his own creation. Much of the humor of the series comes from Hank as narrator shamelessly attempting to make himself seem more competent with hindsight than he really was, but the reader is rarely fooled. Despite his flaws Hank is deeply loyal to his family and the ranch community and usually rises to the occasion at the moment of true crisis.

Drover: Drover is a younger dog who lives on the ranch with Hank. Hank refers to him as his assistant, or as a "little mutt" when Hank is angry with him. Unlike Hank, Drover has no delusions of grandeur and enjoys spending most his time staying out of trouble and sleeping. In Book 17 Hank observes that while he is helping the cowboys with the cattle herding, Drover spends the afternoon chewing on an old horn, buries it, and then promptly forgets where it is buried. Hank considers this a waste of time. Drover also spends a great deal of time (16 hours a day according to Hank) sleeping. He is also unashamedly timid, and frequently avoids "the call of duty" by pretending to have a bad leg. Drover has a great deal of curiosity and often asks Hank obscure questions such as "Why does the moon rise in the evening and set in the morning." Hank rarely knows the answer to these questions but this doesn't stop him from providing ones. Drover often appears to have more common sense than Hank, which allows him to avoid getting into many of the same catastrophes Hank creates for himself.

Sally May: Sally May is the wife of High Loper and the mother of Little Alfred and little Molly. She is a housewife who enjoys parties and often serves as a civilizing check on her cowboy husband. She is often high-strung, particularly in "The Case of the Killer Stud Horse" and "The Phantom in the Mirror", when she has company coming over. Pete the Barn Cat is her favorite pet and she is affectionate towards both him and Drover. She dislikes Hank, however, and frequently gets angry at him for coming into her yard, her house or fighting with Pete. Her most common response when angered is to throw rocks at him. Despite this Hank often seems to think that Sally May secretly respects him. In reality, her feelings fluctuate between disgust and temporary respect as Hank usually follows up his shenanigans with an act of heroism.

High Loper: Owner of the ranch and Hank's master, High Loper is an old-fashioned cowboy who enjoys roping, riding and working his ranch. While Loper never wants to leave the ranch and is loath to go out of town, he is far from a workaholic, settling for shoddy workmanship on many of his projects and pawning the dirty work onto his ranch hand, Slim Chance. His more anti-social cowboy instincts have been tamed by his wife, who he loves. However, in some episodes he expresses nostalgia for the times when he was just a simple cowboy. In "Murder in the Middle Pasture" when Sally May is giving Slim a lecture on he will understand the importance of social events when he is married, Loper mouths the words "no you won't" behind her back. While Loper makes fun of Hank frequently and is often angry at him, he also relies on Hank to help with the cattle herding. In "Every Dog Has His Day" Hank saves Loper from some quicksand, proving his loyalty to his master.

Little Alfred: Loper and Sally May's oldest child. Little Alfred likes Hank and often participates in adventures with him. Some of these are harmless, though in "The Case of the Hooking Bull" Alfred deliberately tricks Hank into going into the dryer and then turning the machine on, showing he has a mischievous streak. Most of the story "Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest" revolves around Hank's search for Alfred when he goes missing in the woods. In this story Alfred is shown to have the ability to talk to animals, although in others he does not appear to have this ability. It is revealed that the older a child gets, the more their ability to understand animals diminishes. Hank is very protective of Alfred and frequently risks his life to protect him, labeling it every cowdog's duty.

Pete the Barn Cat: Hank's primary antagonist on the ranch. Pete is Sally May's favorite pet and he frequently uses this to his advantage in his petty clashes with Hank. Pete is much more clever than Hank and usually manages to outwit him, although Hank usually perceives the events differently. Many of Hank's adventures are initiated by an embarrassing incident where he has been tricked by Pete. In "The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog", Hank's eyes go crossed after staring at a bloody nose he received by attacking a fried egg Pete obtained that was just behind Sally May's garden fence. In "The Curse of the Incredible Priceless Corncob", the entire story revolves around Hank's over-protectiveness towards a corncob Pete has tricked him into believing is worth a fortune. In "The Case of the Missing Cat" Hank eventually loses patience with Pete and tries to strand him on the plains, but has a change of heart and rescues him from the coyotes Rip and Snort. The two then lament the fact that by saving Pete's life Hank and Pete must be friends and stop fighting each other. At the end of the adventure, however, the two return to fighting over scraps, suggesting that they both secretly like their antagonistic relationship.

Slim Chance - A lazy-but-loyal cowboy and ranch hand that works for High Loper. It is unclear how long Slim has worked at the ranch, but despite several comments made about wanting to move to a bigger operation, he has never quit. He does most of the work on the ranch that Loper does not want, and occasionally gets forced into babysitting Little Alfred, for whom he has an affinity. Slim lives in a run down shack two miles from ranch headquarters, and maintains a filthy house. He frequently leaves old dishes, clothes, food, and livestock magazines lying around, therefore he has bad rodent problems which Hank must help him combat. He also hates cooking, which results in him maintaining a horrible diet and eating things that would disgust the average reader, like sardine and ketchup sandwiches. Although Slim loves to play pranks on Hank and poke fun at him, it is clear he has an affinity for both him and Drover, frequently asking them to come along with him on odd jobs.

Wallace and Junior - Two buzzards that Hank sometimes encounters. Wallace is an old buzzard, and Junior's father, and he is very harsh and mostly has negative relationships with others. Unlike Junior, Wallace is rarely kind to anyone and is constantly looking for things to eat. He doesn't seem to like Hank much, but sometimes acts decently towards him. Junior, Wallace's slow and clumsy son, is more timid than his father and has a stuttering problem. He loves his father but often makes Wallace angry by being cowardly, being friendly towards other animals (who Wallace says they should rather think about eating), and generally being bad at being a buzzard. Wallace also loathes Junior's love of singing.

Rip and Snort - Two coyote brothers who have a grudge against Hank. At one point in The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog

The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog

The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson is the first book in the Hank the Cowdog series for children.-Plot:The setting is in the panhandle of Texas probably during the 1980s when the book was written. It starts off with Drover, Hank's assistant, coming to him and waking him...

 however Hank, Rip, and Snort became friends. However, they are enemies in every other book. They are vicious and strong, but not very smart, and Hank manages to escape from sticky situations involving them by tricking them.

Scraunch - A vicious coyote near the top of the pack's pecking order, he maintains an intense hatred of Hank. He is the brother of Missy Coyote, to which Hank was once promised in marriage. He is smarter, tougher, and more grumpy than Rip and Snort.

Missy Coyote - A coyote who was, at one point promised to be Hank's mate, and thus join her family pack if Hank attacked the ranch and killed Drover. Hank ultimately refused to do so, showing that he is loyal to the ranch inhabitants, and loyal to Drover as a good friend. Hank seems to share Missy's feelings and though he doesn't like coyotes it seemed that at one point he seriously considered joining Missy's pack.

Beulah-
Beulah is a collie who resides on a local ranch, and with whom Hank is madly in love. He is constantly trying to impress her, which usually results in his making a fool of himself instead. Beulah lives on her ranch with her boyfriend Plato, a birddog who Hank despises. Although she likes Hank as a friend, she does not return his love, and tries to let him down easy for fear of hurting his feelings. Despite this, Hank continues to be convinced Beulah is in love with him, and would express it if it weren't for Plato.

Plato - Plato is a polite bird dog who likes Hank despite Hank's obvious disdain for him. He is in love with Beulah and seems not to notice or care that Hank is constantly trying to court her. He also seems to be oblivious to Hank's avarice towards him. He has only very minor roles, except in The Case of the Missing Bird Dog

The Case of the Missing Bird Dog

-Plot:This is a book.It is about hank the cow dog in the 4th book in "The Case of the Missing Bird Dog."-Major characters:*Hank- head of ranch security*Drover- Hank's assistant*Pete-barncat*Beulah- collie*Plato- English Pointer boyfriend of Beulah...

 and The Quest for the Great White Quail, in which he got lost and Hank had to find him.

Madam Moonshine - Madam Moonshine is a witch owl who assists Hank on occasion. She has a bodyguard, a rattlesnake named Timothy, who lives in the same hole as her. When she does use her magic, it normally is very odd and may not have the desired results. For example, in Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest

Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest

Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest is the eleventh book in the Hank the Cowdog series.-Plot:Starts with Hank and Drover around the machine shed and Hank informs us of how Sally May has gone to the hospital. J.T. Cluck, the local rooster calls Hank over to look at some tracks in the dirt. Hank takes...

, she and Hank were tied upside-down to a tree branch, while Rip and Snort were planning to eat them below. She recited a spell to make them stop, but, because they were upside-down, it just made them sing their song backwards.

Ralph - Ralph is a basset hound who lives in the local dog pound. His owner works at the pound and just puts him in whichever kennel is currently available. He has a fairly uneventful life, except when his owner lets him out as happens in The Fling

The Fling

The Fling is the 38th book in the Hank the Cowdog book series.-Plot:Starts with Hank and Drover being overrun by steers. Later on Hank begins talking to a still asleep Drover who says he wants to be a truck. Later that day Hank and Drover urinate on the tires of cow shipping truck...

.

Eddy the Rac - Eddy is a raccoon who occasionally shows up and causes trouble. He was orphaned as a baby and Slim took care of him for a while in Moonlight Madness. He causes Hank to be confused every time he appears, from posing as monsters/aliens to convincingly telling Hank a variety of tall-tales. Everytime Slim puts Eddy in a cage, Eddy convinces Hank to let him out and enter the cage himself, at which point Eddy locks him in. Despite this, Hank continues to be fooled and does not particularly like Eddy.He has also been in other books in series.

List of books

1. The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
2. The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
3. It's a Dog's Life
4. Murder in the Middle Pasture
5. Faded Love
6. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
7. 6 The Curse of the Incredible Priceless Corncob
8. The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse
9. The Case of the Halloween Ghost
10. Every Dog Has His Day
    Every Dog Has His Day
    Every Dog Has His Day is the tenth book in the Hank the Cowdog book series, a series of humorous children's mystery novels, written by John R. Erickson and illustrated by Gerald L. Holmes.- Plot :...
    
    
11. Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest
12. The Case of the Fiddle Playing Fox
13. The Wounded Buzzard of Christmas Eve
    The Wounded Buzzard of Christmas Eve
    The Wounded Buzzard of Christmas Eve is the 13th book in the Hank the Cowdog book series.-Plot:It is Christmas Eve on the ranch on which Hank the Cowdog and his assistant, Drover, live. It starts off with them running to see a truck that is coming down the road. Out comes the ranch-hand, Slim, and...
    
    
14. Hank the Cowdog and Monkey Business
15. The Case of the Missing Cat
16. Lost in the Blinded Blizzard
    Lost in the Blinded Blizzard
    Lost in the Blinded Blizzard is the 16th book in the Hank the Cowdog series.-Plot:Starts off with Hank and Drover staying at Slim's house on the northside of the ranch. Has Hank and Drover sleeping inside when Hank hears an odd ringing, which turns out to be the telephone. Hank then notices that...
    
    
17. The Case of the Car-Barkaholic Dog
18. The Case of the Hooking Bull
19. The Case of the Midnight Rustler
20. The Phantom in the Mirror
21. The Case of the Vampire Cat
22. The Case of the Double Bumblebee Sting
23. Moonlight Madness
24. The Case of the Black-Hooded Hangmans
25. The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado
26. The Case of the Kidnapped Collie
    The Case of the Kidnapped Collie
    The Case of the Kidnapped Collie is the 26th book in the Hank the Cowdog book series.-Plot:The book starts off with Hank watching Slim and High Loper working on the machine shed. Later on Hank and Drover are sleeping under the gastank when Pete the local barncat comes around and begins playing with...
    
    
27. The Case of the Night-Stalking Bone Monster
    The Case of the Night-Stalking Bone Monster
    The Case of the Night-Stalking Bone Monster is the 27th book in the Hank the Cowdog book series.-Plot:Starts out with Hank spying on turkeys, later on Hank goes with Slim and High Loper to check the mail, Hank then tries to figure out what IRS means. Later on Hank tries to get scraps and Pete the...
    
    
28. The Mopwater Files
29. The Case of the Vampire Vacuum Sweeper
30. The Case of the Haystack Kitties
31. The Case of the Vanishing Fishhook
32. The Garbage Monster from Outer Space
33. The Case of the Measled Cowboy
34. Slim's Good-bye
35. The Case of the Saddle House Robbery
    The Case of the Saddle House Robbery
    The Case of the Saddle House Robbery is the 35th book in the Hank the Cowdog book series.BookChapter One: The Earth is plunged into darkness...
    
    
36. The Case of the Raging Rottweiler
    The Case of the Raging Rottweiler
    The Case of the Raging Rottweiler is the 36th book in the Hank the Cowdog book series for children.-Plot:The story begins with Hank and Drover spending the day at Slim Chance's bachelor cabin on the north side of the ranch. During their stay, an old buddy of Slim drives by for a visit, bringing a...
    
    
37. The Case of the Deadly Ha-Ha Game
    The Case of the Deadly Ha-Ha Game
    -Plot:The Case of the Deadly Ha-Ha Game starts off with Hank and Drover going out into the country after Pete tells them that a magical pot of chicken is out their somewhere. Later on the run into the two coyotes Rip and Snort. Rip and Snort say they are going after the magical pot of chicken as...
    
    
38. The Fling
    The Fling
    The Fling is the 38th book in the Hank the Cowdog book series.-Plot:Starts with Hank and Drover being overrun by steers. Later on Hank begins talking to a still asleep Drover who says he wants to be a truck. Later that day Hank and Drover urinate on the tires of cow shipping truck...
    
    
39. The Secret Laundry Monster Files
40. The Case of the Missing Bird Dog
    The Case of the Missing Bird Dog
    -Plot:This is a book.It is about hank the cow dog in the 4th book in "The Case of the Missing Bird Dog."-Major characters:*Hank- head of ranch security*Drover- Hank's assistant*Pete-barncat*Beulah- collie*Plato- English Pointer boyfriend of Beulah...
    
    
41. The Case of the Shipwrecked Tree
42. The Case of the Burrowing Robot
43. The Case of the Twisted Kitty
44. The Dungeon of Doom
45. The Case of the Falling Sky
46. The Case of the Tricky Trap
47. The Case of the Tender Cheeping Chickies
48. The Case of the Monkey Burglar
49. The Case of the Booby-Trapped Pickup
50. The Case of the Most Ancient Bone
51. The Case of the Blazing Sky
52. The Quest for the Great White Quail
53. Drover's Secret Life
54. The Case of the Dinosaur Birds
55. The Case of the Secret Weapon
56. The Case of the Coyote Invasion
57. The Disappearance of Drover
58. The Case of the Mysterious Voice

coming soon #59

Audio Only

Some books are only on audio.

1. The Homeless Pooch
2. The Watermelon Patch Mystery
3. The Kitty Cheater
4. The Runaway Windmill
5. The Cookie Moon
6. The Dancing Cowboy
7. The Valentine's Day Robbery

External links

• Hank the Cowdog official website