John R. Erickson

Hank doesn't exactly cover himself with glory in The Case of the Haystack Kitties. He's his usual hasty, conceited self for most of the book, starting with one of his amazing leaps to a completely false conclusion when talking with Drover. In case you think cottonwood trees aren't real, they are. We have them in my part of Arizona, too. Those seeds do look like cotton.

Slim Chance, the Lopers' slovenly, lazy hired hand, has been ordered to take some feed to the cattle. Slim takes Hank along, show more which leads to a lesson for Slim and danger for Hank (not to mention a cameo appearance by my favorite buzzards, Wallace and Junior). Part of the aftermath of that danger made me wince with disgust.

The haystack kitties are a skinny stray cat, Gertie, and her six kittens. The kittens are old enough to have their eyes open, but not old enough to hunt. Hank is very hard-hearted toward the plight of the 'squatters' as he calls them. He wants them off his ranch, a sentiment heartily endorsed by Pete the Barncat. Gertie is a timid, polite cat, but don't even THINK of hurting her kittens.

Crash, a bull, has been knocking down the fence to get at the feed. Slim sets Hank to guard the pen from Crash. Gertie is worried about her kittens if that bull gets in again.

Hank does get to redeem himself at the end, of course. As for the songs, I don't agree that Slim's was boring, as Hank claimed, but Slim did get in a few snarks about a dog. Hank's song about kitties may have accurately reflected his feelings about cats, but he shouldn't have sung it to Gertie's kittens.

Hank the Cowdog is great fun, but this time he definitely takes a backseat to Gertie.

Note: I think the name Slim drops and Hank mangles is 'Barney Oldfield,' an American racer who, according to Wikipedia, was the first man to drive 60 miles an hour (96.560 64 kilometers). Luckily for me, my late dad knew who he was back in pre-Internet days so I didn't have to wait until I could get to the library to look him up. ( I was reading a Doc Savage reprint. Doc had instructed his driver to do a Barney Oldfield.) show less

Fieldnotes:
Texas, Near Enough to Present Day
1 Runt of the Litter
1 Exasperated Mother Dog
Severe Failure to Launch (Hypochondriac Edition)

1 Befuddled Bat
1 Predatory Carnival Doberman
1 Lost Necklace
A Great Deal of Biting
1 Forever Home

The Short Version:
This is the memoir of Drover, runt and lazy sidekick to Hank the Cowdog's Head of Ranch Security. When Drover spectacularly fails to launch and sabotages each and every attempt from his mom to get him to find a job and home, she is forced to show more resort to desperate measures to get him to leave home.

Drover narrowly evades a dog catcher, deals with debilitating leg pain (that tends to move around a lot and clears up when convenient), attempts to attend Handsome Prince School, nearly falls prey to a dangerous scam at a carnival and is eventually forced (much against his will) by Boris O'Bat to stop moping for a few seconds and exert the bare minimum of effort to secure himself a new home.

A fun enough interlude full of silliness, but I prefer Hank's narration (as Drover's whining is on full display). I also wish we would have gotten to meet Hank and see him through Drover's eyes. show less

"You can't be safe and cautious all the time. If you're too timid in this life you'll miss out on all the fun and adventure. You'll just stay home and snap at flies."
--a little philosophy from Hank the Cowdog.

What? None of the readers I follow have read Hank the Cowdog? How is that possible? Boy howdy, let me say that y'all are missing out on good laughs and high (plains) adventures.

Hank is Head of Ranch Security on a ranch up in the Texas panhandle, near where the canyons are. One morning, show more at first light he learns is that there has been a murder on the ranch. Someone has killed one of the big leghorn hens. Never fear, Hank is on the case. And dad-gummit, he's gonna get to the bottom of it.

Eventually.

Right after he has a refreshing morning roll in the overflow sewer.

Hank is one of a kind. Just like all good old boy cowboys, God love 'em. show less

Once again I was forced to check out a Hank the Cowdog book in print because none of our county libraries had the audio version of The Case of the Shipwrecked Tree. That meant I didn't get to hear Hank singing either 'The Turkey Song' or 'You Have to Grow Up, Boys'. Darn! At least I could hear the voices and some of the usual sound effects in my imagination.

As our book opens, Hank is making big claims about the 'Security Division's Vast Office Complex' *snicker* and what he's doing when show more Drover comes in to report that the wild turkeys that roam the Lopers' ranch are coming up to the gas tanks. It doesn't take long for the dogs' imaginations to take some wild leaps. (I liked Mr. Holmes' illustration of Murphy the lurking turkey spy.) Drover is sent to infiltrate the turkeys. His report is about as coherent as could be expected in this series.

Then it's Hank versus the mailman, who has the gall to drive up to the house instead of putting the mail in the mailbox. Hank didn't appreciate what the mailman did to get back at him for barking. I appreciated the ridiculous code names Hank came up with, especially when he and Drover got them mixed up.

What got delivered was a package for Little Alfred, which leads to a pretty funny reaction from the dogs. (Hank's terror of Alfred's mother, Sally May, was also funny).

One of the ranch's cottonwood trees becomes Little Alfred's pretend pirate ship. Things would have gone much better for Hank and the delicious-sounding tuna sandwiches Sally May prepared for her little pirate's lunch if her son hadn't used a bucket to haul Hank into the tree. He wouldn't have been able to haul Hank if Pete the Barncat hadn't been sneaking up that tree to get that tuna.

Hank leaps at Pete and finds himself clinging to a tree branch. Will his little pal be able to fetch his father and Slim Chance before Hank falls off?

If that's not bad enough, there's a thunderstorm coming and the buzzards want to shelter in that same tree. (Loved Wallace's words of 'encouragement' to Hank. I also loved Hank's list of the female dogs he claims had loved and adored him. Sorry, Hank, but only Missy Coyote is attracted to you.)

Mr. Holmes' illustrations are fun, but he drew Sally May Loper in pants when Mr. Erickson clearly stated that she was wearing a dress (see chapter 12), and Pete the Barncat has a muzzle like a dog's.

It's a good adventure.

The reader activity pages (124-126) are: 'Eye-Crosserosis,' 'Rhyme Time,' and '"Photogenic" Memory Quiz'. show less