Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the Read-to-Me, Read-by-Me stage.
Why it fits Read-to-Me, Read-by-Me (for the kindergarten-ready set, between being read to and reading alone)
Tiny books using only a few letter sounds each, so the very first attempt succeeds. Finishing an entire book on day one is rocket fuel for confidence. The standard first step for sound-it-out readers.
What makes it special
Each tiny book uses only the letter sounds a beginner already has, so the very first attempt ends in victory. The stick-figure art is deliberately humble — the child's own decoding is the spectacle. Finishing an entire book on day one converts 'I can't read' to 'I read one' in about four minutes.
About Bobby Lynn Maslen
Bobby Lynn Maslen was a preschool teacher in Portland, Oregon who hand-made tiny phonics booklets for her students in the 1970s; those photocopied 'Bob Books' grew into the best-selling learn-to-read series in America.
She wrote the first sets at her kitchen table with her husband John illustrating; teachers passed them around for years before Scholastic turned the cottage project into a phenomenon.
Also by this author: Bob Books Set 2: Advancing Beginners · Bob Books: Sight Words
More from “I Can Read This Myself”
This book is part of The Best Books for Beginning Readers: 30 Teacher Picks (Read-to-Me, Read-by-Me) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.