Hank the Cowdog {Review}

Until recently I hadn’t heard anything about Hank the Cowdog and came to realize that I’ve apparently been living somewhere way EAST of the cowboy land where Hank resides. Hank is pretty popular in homeschool circles, so I was anxious to see some of products from Maverick Books and find out what our kids thought of Hank.

Hank the Cowdog is Head of Ranch Security on a Texas ranch. He leads a variety of characters {in the truest sense of the word} in many adventures around the property. Hank is the creation of John Erickson, a former cowboy and ranch manager, who loves to tell stories and created the series to share a little of ranch life with families.

We received a pack of products to review, including Hank’s Tales and Tunes cd, the book The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse and Hank’s Tornado game ($12.99). Hank’s Tales and Tunes ($3.00) is a compilation cd that introduces many of the characters from the Hank series and is done is a ‘radio drama’ style. There are excerpts from ten various stories as well as nine songs sung by different characters. John Erickson is the voice behind the characters and the cd sound effects are great {running time is 68 minutes}.

In The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse ($4.24) Hank discovers that bacon grease does not make a good breakfast, little girls can be a good thing {even if they dress you up}, and putting your life on the line to help someone can be painful but rewarding. The writing style is very laid-back but extremely kid friendly and funny.

The girls and I enjoyed playing the Tornado game together to see who could get their three Hank characters around the board first. It’s great for 2-4 players ages 5+. The game board travels well too, because it folds up and the pieces store inside the board. Hank’s Tornado game also includes a 30 minute cassette tape with excerpts from The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado.

Overall, the products were great {and we will definitely use and play the game}, but for our family the book and cd are off limits at this point. I popped the cd in for the kids to listen to in the van, but found myself flipping past tracks because of the words and phrases the characters use {stupid, idiot, dumb, what the heck}. After the last phrase was said on the cd, I pulled it out and we had a talk about things that we don’t say – and why. Unfortunately, there are now two little mouths walking around the house and saying ‘What the heck?’ quite a bit, so we are having to handle that.

If your child is a little older and might not be as…impressionable as our younger ones, you might want to check out your local library for some of the Hank books and take advantage of the Hank’s Tales and Tunes cd to hear the songs and stories for yourself. You can also read more about Hank the Cowdog and explore his ranch too!