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Hank the Cowdog

Hank the Cowdog
Hankthecowdog logo.png
Hank the Cowdog logo
Author John R. Erickson
Illustrator Gerald L. Holmes
Cover artist Gerald L. Holmes
Country United States
Language English
Genre Children's fiction
Publisher Maverick Books (original)
Puffin Books (reprints)
Editorial Sudamericana (Spanish)
Published 1982 – current
Media type Print, ebook, audiobook
No. of books 68

Hank the Cowdog is a long running, ongoing series of children's books written by John R. Erickson and illustrated by Gerald L. Holmes. The books follow Hank, a dog that views himself as the "Head of Ranch Security". In each book Hank and other characters must deal with several events, issues and mysteries that occur at their Texas Panhandle home, the M-Cross Ranch, which is located in Ochiltree County. The series began in 1982, with a couple of short stories about Hank and his friends; since then, 66 printed books and seven audio-only books have been published. Hank the Cowdog was previously published via Maverick Books, with Puffin Books holding the current American publishing rights in English. Each book features songs that Erickson performs on the audiobook editions. The series has received awards and critical acclaim, and the books have sold more than 8 million copies worldwide. It has been published in several languages including Spanish. In the 1980s, the first book was adapted into an animated segment for CBS Storybreak.

The books will be adapted into an animated TV series. There is also a 'Hank movie' in production.

Teaching programs are available for the series via Maverick Books and a story entitled The Case of the Dancing Cowboy was serialized in 2002, in several American newspapers.

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. The dog is based on an Australian Shepherd named Hank that was owned by a neighbor of Erickson's when he was managing a ranch in Oklahoma. The neighbor wanted to use the dog to help with the cattle but the dog was not trained and proved a hassle.


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