Ranching and Livestock

Hank's Ranch Life #1

by John R. Erickson, National Ranching Heritage Center (Contributor)

The National Ranching Heritage Center is proud to partner with Hank the Cowdog for the Ranch Life Learning series. In this first book, Ranching and Livestock, the same cast of characters you’ve come to know and love in the Hank the Cowdog series will give you a first-class introduction to ranching! You’ll learn things like: the difference between a ranch and a farm, how cows digest grass, what it takes to run a ranch as a successful business, how to take care of cattle through the various seasons, and much more!

Genres: Childrens

77 pages, Paperback

Published September 29, 2017

About the author

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 for adults, and when Erickson started getting "Dear Hank" letters, he knew he was onto something. So in 1983, he self-published 2,000 copies of The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog, and they sold out in 6 weeks.

When teachers began inviting Erickson to their schools, Hank found his most eager fans. Teachers, librarians, and students alike love Hank. According to some Texas Library Association surveys, the Hank the Cowdog books are the most popular selections in many libraries' children's sections. The lively characters make excellent material for reading and writing lessons, and turn even the most reluctant readers into avid Hank-fans.

Erickson was born in Midland, Texas, but by the age of 3, he had moved with his family to Perryton, Texas, where he and his wife live today on their working cattle ranch. They have 3 grown children and 4 grandchildren. His advice to young writers is, "Write about something you know. Try to leave your readers better off than they were before."

Reviews

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just perfect and I could totally see using this in a classroom setting as well!
I read it for the fun of it. I love the Hank the Cowdog series, so it just made sense to read this as well. It is just so perfect. It talks about the facts and business of ranch life at a totally kid appropriate level. The fact that it is told from Hank’s perspective keeps it interesting and entertaining (I mean laugh out loud a few times entertaining). It kind of reminds me of how they did the whole Percy Jackson talking about Greek mythology style of doing factual books from a fictitious character’s perspective, excepting ranching is real.
There are also free lesson plans that you could use in the classroom. I haven’t looked at them yet, but this would be totally fun to do in the classroom. You could totally tie in how the different school subjects tie into real life jobs.

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM