Hank the Cowdog

	I have seen the Hank the Cowdog books on various lists of good books to encourage children, especially boys, to read longer books.
Even though I had heard of them, neither I, nor my children, had actually read any of the books.
That is, until now.
As a member of The Old Schoolhouse (TOS) Homeschool Crew, I received several items from Maverick Books to review.
The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse, though the eighth book, was a terrific introduction to Hank the Cowdog. Hank lives on a ranch where he is the self-proclaimed “Head of Ranch Security.”
The book is written entirely from Hank’s perspective, and let’s face it, a dog’s perspective is much different from our own. His pleasures include sleeping under the gas tanks, pestering the barn cat, and eating table scraps. Hank reminded me a little bit of a canine Barney Fife with his high ideals but less than ideal results. I found the book entertaining and funny. My 11 year old son laughed out loud as he was reading it.
I also received Tales and Tunes from Hank the Cowdog. (This item is no longer available.) This audio CD is a collection of excerpts from books in addition to original songs. Although my personal preference would be listening to entire books instead of just portions, I found this CD to be an excellent sample of the talents of the author, John Erickson. His reading of the stories using various voices for Hank, Drover, and other characters is hilarious! My 7 year old son listens to this CD every day.
	The last product I received was Hank’s Tornado Game. The game is similar to Trouble or Sorry with a couple of extra twists. The playing pieces are characters from The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado. The game board is compact and folds up to store all the pieces inside, both features that this mom loves!

My kids and I have enjoyed getting to know Hank the Cowdog. Receiving the review products has inspired my 11 year old to check out several of the books from the library as well as an audio book for my 7 year old. All of the 54 Hank the Cowdog books are available from www.hankthecowdog.com as well as major book retailers. The paperback books retail for $4.24. The unabridged audio CD’s are $17.99.(You can also listen to samples of the audio books on the website.) In addition, many of the audio versions are available as mp3 downloads from audible.com. The Tales and Tunes sample CD is only $3, and Hank’s Tornado Game is $12.99.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.