Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by dionnaford
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson
1.0
I am chagrined that this audiobook was recommended to me by several homeschooling parents. Yikes - I'll be spreading the word in my own HS group to stay away.
I got so tired of Hank's name-calling (a mother coyote was a "hag" when she screamed at him for - wait for it - hitting her pup) and bad-mouthing every other animal. The height of humor in this book (and really, my 3 and 7 year olds were laughing uproariously) came when Hank and Drover (who is stupid, scared, and worthless, according to his friend Hank) tormented a chained-up boxer, then peed on the tires of the boxer's owner's car, just to harass him further. Honestly, Hank's a bully.
I would have let the book go - unreviewed and forgotten - until we reached the section with the coyotes. Apparently, Hank is a modern "cowboys and Indians" book, and the coyotes are Hollywood-throwback stereotypes. Not only do we get the crude speech patterns of Hollywood's version of Native Americans, but we're also treated to domestic violence (that is laughed off) and drinking. Of course. Because you can't really do justice to this stereotype without a little bit of the fire water. Gross.
If you do pick this one up for your kids, please, please have some quality conversations about cultural stereotypes and bullies. Even better, save yourself a few hours and choose something else.
I got so tired of Hank's name-calling (a mother coyote was a "hag" when she screamed at him for - wait for it - hitting her pup) and bad-mouthing every other animal. The height of humor in this book (and really, my 3 and 7 year olds were laughing uproariously) came when Hank and Drover (who is stupid, scared, and worthless, according to his friend Hank) tormented a chained-up boxer, then peed on the tires of the boxer's owner's car, just to harass him further. Honestly, Hank's a bully.
I would have let the book go - unreviewed and forgotten - until we reached the section with the coyotes. Apparently, Hank is a modern "cowboys and Indians" book, and the coyotes are Hollywood-throwback stereotypes. Not only do we get the crude speech patterns of Hollywood's version of Native Americans, but we're also treated to domestic violence (that is laughed off) and drinking. Of course. Because you can't really do justice to this stereotype without a little bit of the fire water. Gross.
If you do pick this one up for your kids, please, please have some quality conversations about cultural stereotypes and bullies. Even better, save yourself a few hours and choose something else.