Childhood Reading

        My favorite book to read as a kid when I was first learning to read was probably "Hank The Cowdog". It was easy to read and it was all about a dog who solved crimes. The older I got, the more I realized how absurd it was, but when I was younger I never thought about it. Hank considered himself  "Head of Ranch Security", but in reality his bark was bigger than his bite. None of my friends read this book but most of my friends didn't read at all. The Hank the Cowdog phase was an important one in my development of reading skills because it showed me that books didn't have to be boring like I thought all my school text books were. It showed me that books that interested me could be Funny, Scary, Sad, Or Suspenseful. It always showed me that I could receive the same entertainment from reading that I could from watching t.v, while educating myself more at the same time. While other kids were watching some pointless t.v shows, I could further my reading ability while getting the same enjoyment out of it that they were, but also benefiting in more ways than one. The setting was similar to that of which I lived, so I could look at nearly any mutt that I saw and could picture it being Hank undercover. The books were a stepping stone to the bigger and more complex books that would come later in my life. The Hank the Cowdog books taught me not only to read, but to read proficiently and to love reading. I believe most people who love to read have this kind of milestone book. The Introductory Book. Although I don't read books anything like this now, No westerns or Crime books at all, I still think about this book as the book that opened up my love of reading and my ability to read.