Bob Books, written by Bobby Lynn Maslen and illustrated by John R. Maslen, are a series of
children’s books
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
designed to teach
reading skills acquisition. With a foundation in
phonics
Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing to beginners. To use phonics is to teach the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) or groups of letters or syllables of the written ...
methods, each level addresses a single stage in a child’s reading development.
Sets in the series include:
*Bob Books Set 1: Beginning Readers () introduces short vowels and three-letter words.
*Bob Books Set 2: Advanced Beginners () uses three-letter words and vowel sounds in slightly longer stories.
*Bob Books Set 3: Word Families () includes consonant blends, endings and a few sight words.
*Bob Books Set 4: Compound Words () includes new word blends, more sight words and longer multi syllable words.
*Bob Books Set 5: Long Vowels () introduces long vowels and the silent E.
*My First Bob Books: Pre-Reading Skills () teaches reading foundation skills: shapes, patterns and sequencing.
*My First Bob Books: Alphabet () teaches phonemic awareness, written to help tune children's ears to the sounds letters make.
*Bob Books Sight Words: Kindergarten () introduces sight words at the kindergarten level.
*Bob Books Sight Words: First Grade () introduces 30 additional sight words at the first grade level.
Each set is organized into ''stages'': Reading Reading Readiness, Stage 1: Starting to Read, Stage 2: Emerging Reader and Stage 3: Developing Reader.
History
Bobby Lynn Maslen and John Maslen created Bob Books, first published in 1976.
Author Bobby Lynn Maslen was involved in cooperative preschool education for nine years and then became a teacher of 3-5 year-olds at a private school in Portland, Oregon. It was there that she created the Bob Books.
Illustrator John Maslen is a watercolor painter and architect. He holds signature status in the National Watercolor Society and several other art organizations. He also received an
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...
Honor Award.
The first Bob Books were individually hand-drawn for Bobby Lynn Maslen's students. When it became too cumbersome to make books for each child, she persuaded the school to print 300 copies. This eventually led to more sets, a cottage industry and self publishing.
The Bob Books became a Children’s
Book of the Month
Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ch ...
Club selection and the series was adopted by home-schoolers and
Montessori
The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...
teachers. In 1993 USA Today ran a story about the Bob Books. “By that time we knew the potential was much more than we could handle ourselves.”
[ ] Scholastic Inc. became their publisher in 1994.
References
{{Reflist
Backlist Heroes: Perennial favorites prove they can sell themselves Publishers Weekly, 11/24/2003
Washington Post, 4/16/1993
External links
*
ttp://www.bobbooks.com/ Bob Books
Series of children's books