Hank the Cowog is a series of humorous children's mystery novels, written by John R. Erickson and illustrated by Gerald L. Holmes. The series began in 1982 with a couple of short stories about the proud but bumbling Hank, the self-styled "Head of Ranch Security". Over 40 books have since been written featuring Hank, his timid sidekick Drover, his sworn enemy Pete the Barncat, and their adventures on the M-Cross ranch in the northern Texas Panhandle. Every book in the series has been recorded in an audio book format, making it the longest-running popular children's audio book series. The books all include songs sung by Hank and other characters; these songs are all performed on the tapes by Erickson. It has received various awards and acclaims, lauded by Publishers Weekly and USA Today.