The Case of the Falling Sky

Hank the Cowdog #45

by John R. Erickson, Gerald L. Holmes (Illustrations)

After Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security, collects clues from the chickens and the cat that indicate that the sky will fall, he springs into action to keep the ranch safe.

Genres: Humor, Childrens, Adventure, Mystery, Juvenile

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

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

[John Stults · Rating 5 out of 5]

another good story

Hank the Cowdog solves the mystery of the sky falling with his normal expertise. We see all the usual suspect Pete the barn cat and JT the rooster
Good story I recommend it.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's rare that authors of children's books can read their own books with better presentation than say a comedian. Erickson's timing is impeccable. His voices are hysterical. He brings a lot of vocabulary and critical thinking skills to his books because the children listening have to follow with how many times Hank changes his story (i.e. quite the unreliable narrator)! The hiccups song had my girls rolling.

[Merceda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ol' Pete told Hank that the sky would fall, and then of course laughed about it. As many times as Hank has listened to Pete, and found out that Pete was pulling his leg, one would think that Hank would learn not to listen to Pete! And of course, Big Cluck told him that the sky was falling, but it had to be delayed until the wind picked up again. And so the wind picked up again, and the tool shed roof fell in on Hank and Drover, and so they believed that the sky had fallen, but they had to decipher the secret clue, and of course, the secret clue said that the roof would fall in. So the case was solved by ranch security once again.

[Alleigh]

this book is about a dog that is Head Of Ranch Security named Hank the Cowdog. In this book Hank is stopping J. T. Cluck from predicting the sky is going to fall. I don't think the sky is going to fall. His partener Drover is there with him to stop J. T. Cluck.

[Darryl Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read pretty much this entire series years ago after I descovered them in my elementary school libary. The plot, and characters are great. Plus these books are extremly funny. I loved this series then and I still love it.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

so far...
Main characters - Hank the dog.

Other characters: Pete the cat and the rooster JT.

Hank

[Jessica]

The boys and I listened to the audio version of this book. A fun silly book that had us laughing.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty boring Hank. The only exciting thing happened when the weather changed.