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John R. Erickson

Goodreads Author

Born

in Perryton, Texas, The United States

Website

http://www.hankthecowdog.com/

Twitter

HanktheCowdog1

Genre

Children's, Humor and Comedy

Member Since

November 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/JohnRErickson

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John R. Erickson, a former cowboy and ranch manager, is gifted with a storyteller's knack for spinning a yarn. Through the eyes of Hank the Cowdog, a smelly, smart-aleck Head of Ranch Security, Erickson gives readers a glimpse of daily life on a ranch in the West Texas Panhandle. This series of books and tapes is in school libraries across the country, has sold more than 7.6 million copies, is a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and is the winner of the 1993 Audie for Outstanding Children's Series from the Audio Publisher's Association. Publishers Weekly calls Hank a "grassroots publishing phenomena," and USA Today says this is "the best family entertainment in years."

Hank the Cowdog made his debut in the pages of The Cattleman, a magazine ...more

143 posts
John R. Erickson's Blog

It's That Time Again! Get Your SIGNED Hank the Cowdog books in Time for Christmas!

Dear Hank-Fans,

It's that time of year!! And, here's an easy, how-to for getting GREAT Christmas presents for your friends and family: signed Hank the Cowdog books.

Here's how to do it:

Place an order in Hank's Store,
Decide which items you'd like to have signed by John Erickson,
Make your request in the "Order Comments" box shown in the picture below.
Include a lovely thank-you for Read more of this blog post »

View more on John R. Erickson's website »

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Published on November 23, 2025 16:00

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Combine Editions
John R. Erickson’s books

Average rating: 4.17 · 36,400 ratings · 2,184 reviews · 201 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog (Hank the Cowdog, #1) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.10 avg rating — 6,679 ratings — published 1980 — 57 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog (Hank the Cowdog, #2) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.15 avg rating — 2,059 ratings — published 1983 — 36 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	It's a Dog's Life (Hank the Cowdog, #3) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Tom Hair (Designed by) 4.11 avg rating — 1,551 ratings — published 1984 — 32 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Murder in the Middle Pasture (Hank the Cowdog, #4) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.11 avg rating — 1,325 ratings — published 1985 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (Hank the Cowdog, #6) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.13 avg rating — 1,092 ratings — published 1988 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Curse of the Incredible Priceless Corncob (Hank the Cowdog, #7) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.14 avg rating — 863 ratings — published 1986 — 27 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Every Dog Has His Day (Hank the Cowdog, #10) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.11 avg rating — 755 ratings — published 1987 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse (Hank the Cowdog, #8) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.19 avg rating — 691 ratings — published 1987 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Case of the Halloween Ghost (Hank the Cowdog, #9) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.18 avg rating — 689 ratings — published 1987 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hank the Cowdog and Monkey Business (Hank the Cowdog, #14) by John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author), Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator) 4.08 avg rating — 682 ratings — published 1990 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by John R. Erickson…

Series by John R. Erickson

Hank the Cowdog (84 books)
by

John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author),

Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrator)

4.14 avg rating — 33,930 ratings

Hank the Cowdog: Audio Only (7 books)
by

John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author)

4.27 avg rating — 469 ratings

Riley McDaniels (3 books)
by

John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author)

4.28 avg rating — 86 ratings

Hank's Ranch Life (3 books)
by

John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author)

4.52 avg rating — 46 ratings

Hank the Cowdog: Greatest Hits (3 books)
by

John R. Erickson (Goodreads Author)

4.79 avg rating — 42 ratings

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John’s Recent Updates

John R. Erickson wrote a new blog post Got Turkey On Your Mind This Holiday Season? You'll love this snippet from Hank #66! [Reposted from November 2016] Howdy All! Almost ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas? They're almost here! And, we hope you won't miss out on some of Ha Read more of this blog post »
May 23, 2026 01:50AM · like

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Quotes by John R. Erickson (?)

“Don’t take anything for granite. That’s what tombstones are made of.”
― John R. Erickson, Hank the Cowdog

22 likes

“Coyotes can’t expect to keep friends when they eat them all the time.”
― John R. Erickson, Hank the Cowdog

12 likes

“When time marches on, it steps on your nose and tail, and leaves boot prints down your back.”
― John R. Erickson, Hank the Cowdog

10 likes

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John’s Quotes

“My parents placed a high value on reading, starting with the King James Bible, and one whole wall of our living room was filled, floor to ceiling, with books. But I was an outside kid and didn’t have the patience to be a reader. That changed, briefly, when I discovered Tom Sawyer in the fourth grade. That was the one book I truly loved. I read it several times, then read Huckleberry Finn. I was fascinated by the way Twain played with language and used regional dialects. But what amazed me most was that Twain allowed the reader to laugh. Reading didn’t have to be drudgery. Twain didn’t allow it.”
― John R. Erickson

3 likes

“He had a good heart, he wanted to help with the cattle work, he thought he was Head of Ranch Security, but he wasn’t very smart and never understood why the cowboys were mad at him all the time.” (regarding the original Hank the Cowdog)”
― John R. Erickson

5 likes

“Hank is a dog, not a human dressed up in a dog suit. Humans share some of his flaws, but I get my ideas from watching dogs.”
― John R. Erickson

5 likes

“Write about something you know. Try to leave your readers better off than they were before.”
― John R. Erickson

7 likes

“Buzzards don’t make good friends. They always have an interior motive.”
― John R. Erickson, Hank the Cowdog

8 likes

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