John R. Erickson

From his home on the Texas Panhandle, John R. Erickson, rancher and author of the bestselling Hank the Cowdog series, saw firsthand the raw power of two megafires that swept across the high plains in 2006 and 2017. "These were landmark events that are etched onto the memory of an entire generation and will be passed down to the next. They made the old-time methods of fighting fire with shovels, wet gunny sacks, and ranch spray rigs a pathetic joke." Yet...

Against her better judgment, Sally May leaves the ranch in Slim's care. While Slim naps, Hank and Little Alfred subject strawberry ice cream to rigorous product testing and then go for a ride in a mysterious spaceship. But, it's when Slim finally awakens that their adventures really begin. Hank saves Slim from sure death, endures a terrible whipping from the Hooking Bull, and much, much more.

It's early January on Hank's ranch when Slim and Loper receive word that an ice storm is headed their way. However, just as they're about to prepare the cattle and stock tanks at the ranch to safely weather the storm, Deputy Kile calls with some bad news. It seems that one of their electric fences has short-circuited, and some of their wheat pasture steers have strayed into town and onto the Twitchell golf course! Slim saddles up his horse and heads...

Hank is literally at the end of his rope in his tenth adventure. It's roundup time at the ranch and Hank is left behind, tied to a post, while a high-bred border collie named Bennie takes Hank's place and runs the show. How can Hank restore himself as Head of Ranch Security and reclaim his fame and fortune?

Sally May and Loper head off to visit the relatives, leaving Slim in charge of Little Alfred. Hank's sure trouble will come knocking. First, Slim is struck down with the measles. Then a blizzard hits the ranch, trapping them in the house with no heat or electricity. Somehow, Hank's got to find a way to get them out of this mess...before they're snowed in for good!

When a strange twist of events brings a yellow Labrador onto the scene of a roundup gone wrong, the entire ranch quickly falls in love with this newest addition to the ranch's Security Division. Who can help loving a Lab? Hank quickly begins to feel the pressure of measuring up to this perfect dog, but it isn't long before everyone begins to notice that their sweet new pet, Happy, has a few personality quirks of his own. Will Happy stay on the ranch...

A terrible winter storm strikes the Texas Panhandle. Down at Slim's place, Hank and Drover listen to the wind howling outside, watching the snow pile up outside. The phone rings. It's High Loper. Baby Molly has a bad cough and needs medicine. Can Hank go out into the blizzard and make it all the way to Headquarters with the cough medicine? Or, will he be captured and eaten by Rip and Snort?

Everyone knows that a cowboy will rope anything that moves: cows, dogs, cats, bales of hay, unsuspecting fellow-cowboys... So, when some local goats escape their pen and turn up near Wolf Creek, Deputy Kile knows just who to ask to help him round them up: Slim Chance. Hank and Slim spring into action and go in search of the lost goats, but they could never have foreseen the dangers and surprises they'd face in the course of this rodeo rescue mission....

Happy the Lab is back on the ranch, and it looks like he's up to his usual good-natured, bumbling ways! And, it just so happens that he has wandered onto Hank's ranch on a particularly exciting day: rain has finally come to their drought-stricken land, and — what's even more exciting — radio reports claim that there's a mountain lion on the prowl in their area! As the day unfolds, it appears that the mountain lion report was bogus, which is a...

Hank's third adventure opens with Hank in trouble again, so he heads to town to make a surprise visit to his sister, Maggie. Sounds innocent enough, but while in town, Hank contracts a mysterious case of "soap hydrophobia" - and ends up in the dog pound! Will he find a way out?