John R Erickson again puts our boys in laughs with his Hank the cowdog's adventures. Most of which are fabricated in the mind of the dog, or his side-kick Drover. He tests my ability to read out-loud properly with all the vocabulary words that I must say properly in order for the boys to understand. The capers that Hank finds himself gives suspense, adventure, mystery and laughs as the reader is taken through a dog's eyes to view ranch life.
Any of Erickson's book (we've read them all) will make them laugh, sigh and wondering why Hank can't get it. ( )

Mr. Erickson gives Hank fans an extra-long adventure for the 50th book, The Case of the Most Ancient Bone. For the audio version, that means four CDs instead of three.

The ancient bone is a bison one dug up by one of the archeologists who appear here. The lead archeologist, David Wilkie, went to school with Slim Chance.

Hank meets a beautiful female dog and naturally assumes she has fallen madly in love with him. Not only is there no evidence to support his assumption, all of the evidence we're given suggests she dislikes him. If you know Hank, you won't be surprised to learn that he mangles her name -- into Sardina Bandana. The next time he meets Saffron... Well, Hank messes up even further, leading to a funny scene. (It's hard to wipe the grin of my face as I type this.) Choo Choo indeed!

Doug McGruber, the archeologist who discovered the ancient bison bone, advises Hank about a problem with peanut butter. Will Hank take his advice?

Rip and Snort, the coyote brothers and frequent guest stars, get to menace Hank during his big anniversary. ( )