Hank the Cowdog, Book, CD, and Tornado Game

Hank the Cowdog has been around for quite a while. John R. Erickson began writing about him 26 years ago. To date he's compiled 54 books on Hank's adventures.



Hank is as self-assured as they come, but really isn't all he dreams himself to be. He frequently finds himself the victim of his own mistakes, though he never sees it that way. His foibles resemble those of Barney Fife, especially since he believes himself to be in charge of security on the ranch where he lives. In The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse, the book I read, Hank goes through a lot of Tom Foolery that his masters don't at all appreciate. In the end he returns to their good graces when he saves the children from a deadly situation.



My guess is that each book in the series is like the one I read: about a hundred pages long, sporting a few key illustrations, and easily read by older elementary students.

Books aren't the only piece of Hank you can own. Included for my review was a CD. Each track of the Tales and Tunes from Hank the Cowdog contained a snippet of the book read by the author and followed by a song sung by the author. The CD had excerpts from ten different books in the series. It was neat to hear the author read his work. Afterward, I could hear the different characters voices later on when I read to myself. Two of the tracks come from The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse. It was nice to hear him sing the songs he penned in the closing chapters.

Also included for my review was a game. TORNADO reminds me of Trouble. It has the same plastic tubes for holding your plastic tube game pieces as they go around the board. Maverick Books made a few key improvements to TORNADO. The unmistakeable sound of the pop-o-matic bubble has been replaced by a quiet spinner. The forlorn plastic game pieces have had characters from the series added to them. The postition of the players and the rules have changed a bit too, in order to make the game flow better. I couldn't quite get my five year old to stick around for a full game, but that's normal for him.



Best of all the game is packaged for traveling. The spinner comes apart, the board folds in half and acts as a carrying case, and all the playing pieces fit inside. TORNADO, "the wildest race and chase game ever!", is based on a Hank the Cowdog book, The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado. Included with the game is 30 minutes of the audio book to help put the game in context.

There is even more to Hank than all that. Hank has a website where kids can find out even more about their beloved canine hero. There is a map of his ranch, information on characters, games, a guestbook to sign, and more. Fans can sign up to receive a quarterly newsletter, The Hank Times. Available in the Hank the Cowdog line are T-shirts, plush toys, audio books, posters, song CDs, paperback, and hardback books.

Although Hank the Cowdog has won a Listen-up Award from Publisher's Weekly as a Best Humor Audio, I wasn't too thrilled with the humor. It crossed the boundaries of what is deemed appropriate in our family. We found the romatic elements bothersome, the language questionable, and the bathroom humor over the top. Chapter eight is subtitled Children Under Twelve Not Allowed to Read this Chapter! Caution!... I think that statement is applicable to the entire series, although I might lower the advisory age to ten. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. Other families have different dynamics; they might find Hank and his compatriots a welcome bit of entertainment.

If you are interested, here's the lowdown:
Paperback books, individual: $4.24
Hardback books, individual: $12.49
Unabridged audio book, CD: $17.99
Paperback book and audio CD set: $19.99
Tornado Game: $12.99

The newest books in the series cost a dollar more. There are several options for bundling books and audio CDs at a discounted rate. Maverick books still offers cassette tapes for the first 49 books in the series. You can also purchase a complete set of the books at a discounted rate.

Hank the Cowdog official website
Hank the Cowdog full product line ordering page

This review is one of my reviews as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew 09-10. I am not compensated for reviews, though I do receive the product free of charge to use and review.