"Bob Books" were first introduced 35 years ago. |
CONTEST OVER!
These fun little books were created by Bobby Lynn Maslen for her preschoolers when she discovered she couldn't find early readers that were interesting.
The first BOB BOOKS were individually hand-drawn. When it became too cumbersome to make books for each child, Bobby Lynn persuaded the school to print 300 copies. This eventually led to more sets - starting a cottage industry and self-publishing. Bobby's husband, John, illustrated them. The series, first adopted by homeschoolers and Montessori teachers, was picked up by Scholastic.
Today, BOB BOOKS are still very much a family-run business with management being handed down to the eldest daughter, Lynn, who has been involved with the BOB BOOKS right from the beginning. She started out with paste-up and lettering of the first edition in the 1970’s, but later spent several years in other ventures. Lynn then returned to the family business as her own daughter was beginning to read. That was when she gained true appreciation for the simplicity, fun, humor and easy success of Bob Books. Her daughter now joins the millions of kids that happily exclaim, “I read the whole book!”® Lynn lives in Seattle with her daughter and husband.
Thank you for the background on these books! We have the first set and my son has just started to put letters together when reading, so we'll revisit them today!
ReplyDeleteThe BOB BOOKS really helped reading "click" with my kids. Hope you have the same experience, Magda!
ReplyDeleteOMG, Helena would flip out! She is reading on her own and loving every minute! I love the fact that she sits and reads to Noah at bedtime! The laughing and excitement is music to my ears! It's my favorite moment of the day :)
ReplyDeleteLove when siblings ready aloud to each other!
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