Growing Up on Hank the Cowdog - From Our Bookshelf

One of my favorite childhood books series was and still is Hank the Cowdog. I still get the new books and read them. I love the series so much. The characters bring back so many memories while also still creating laughs for me.

My first memory of the series is my mom reading them out loud to me. Then it was listening to them in the car, and my sister and her best friend reading them. Then I read them.

Eventually, I even met John R. Erickson at a homeschooling convention, which was amazing to a young me. He was the first author that I met and heard speak.

Hank the Cowdog is Head of Ranch Security. Hank and his buddy, Drover, share all kinds of adventure and excitement from their life on the ranch. From battling their nemesis Pete the Barn Cat to the town dog catcher.

Hank the Cowdog was the inspiration for my first story that I wrote. (It was not that long, but for a nine year old over fifty pages on my own “cowdog” story was a lot.)

I also have many memories around conversations with my siblings and our best friend growing up about Hank.

I even remembering singing the songs from the audiobooks.

Hank the Cowdoy by John R. Erickson is such a fun series. I really encourage people to give these books a try. There are seventy-four books in the Hank the Cowdog series, so if your kids love them they will have plenty of books to keep them busy!

They make you laugh. They also at times make kids sit on the edge of their seat wondering what Hank or Drover or Slim is going to do next.

Even a young reader can become invested in the ranch life and characters. I remember as a kid waiting with excitement for the next book to come out.

Read them to your kids, get the audio books for them, and buy the books or borrow them from the library, so that they can read them too.

The reading level for the Hank the Cowdog books are grade level 4-6. I was probably third grade when I started reading them, and I still love reading them, so you don’t have to stop at 6th grade. The reading level will vary depending on your kids, but I think grades 3-6 will probably enjoy them the most.