Bob Books Review and Giveaway

Bob Books were created by teacher Bobby Lynn Maslen's with the special care that in my opinion only a school teacher could do. Special attention was placed on specific needs of children learning to read for the very first time. Bobby taught at the Catlin Gabel School in Portland Oregan where he worked with 3 to 5 year olds involved in constant invention in art, math, physical growth activities and reading. Bobby created the Bob Books after not being able to find books that were interesting enough for her young students.



Bobby was inspired by two small dolls she bought at a craft fair when she created the first books. One of the dolls was circular and one triagular. The book featured dolls named Mat and Sam and Bobby created stories around the characters and illustrated the book with line drawings. Children could copy and color the stories. At first the books were very personal created for each student later she standardized the set and her school printed 300 copies.

As the word about the books spread it eventually became a family project. Portland State University published the books for several years later they were self published. The Maslen’s worked on the books together as husband, John Maslen, a watercolor artist and former architect, drew new pictures and the couple's growing children helped collate and staple. The Bob Books grew in such popularity that they became the Children's Book-of-the-Month-Club selection, and the series was adopted by home-schoolers and Montessori teachers. News spread about the Bob Books on major T.V. shows The family turned to Scholastic Inc. a major publisher of children's books for help.

Our Opinion: we love the Bob Books and have talked to several elementary teachers who also love the Bob Books and believe that children are drawn to them and this makes learning easier. I volunteered several years as a reading assistant and have to say that I love it. I would do it all over again to watch these young children learn to read. We would read in the books, use flash cards for sight words and just have a wonderful time reading together. The Bob Books are a valuable resource in my opinion allowing Children to have fun while they learn to read. We received 2 sets of sight words one for Kindergarten and the other for First Grade. They instantly brought back memories of the years of being a reading assistant. The set of books that can be turned to and are kept nicely in a box where they can be turned to time and time again. I can remember making books out of printed paper that helped the children learn site words. The problem with the paper books was that the staple easily came out and the paper never stood up to much wear. The Bob Books on the other hand are put together nicely and I can only imagine what a great resource they would be to a classroom, a homeschool room or just anywhere a child is learning to read.

Scholastic sent me two sets of these valuable Bob Books. One of these sets I will keep and help my grandchildren learn to read and the other a lucky reader of Annies Home will receive. The winner will get their choice of set.

To enter this giveaway share with me a story or a tip to help someone to read.

Extra Entries:

• follow my blog (2 entries)


• take a look at all the Bob Books available and let me know what book you would love to share with someone (3 entries)


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• follow my blog on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (2 entries for following me on twitter leave your twitter name and 1 entry for each tweet unlimited)


• Share this giveaway on your blog, facebook, or giveaway place (5 entries each) share link in comment


• enter any of my other giveaways (1 entry each)


• comment on the reviews here or here or here (3 entries each)

Contest starts now and ends September 30, 2010. Good Luck Email must be in comment or on blog profile or entries will not count

We received a set of Bob Books for review purposes. The opinion I shared here are personal and are my own. Your opinion may not be the same as mine as all opinions are a bit different