Great literature Bob Books are not. But that’s not their purpose. Their purpose is to hold children’s hands during their first journeys into reading. And for that they’re great.
These very-short books turn simple words into simple sentences with just enough story and humor to hold a child’s interest for the few minutes it takes to read one of them.
I picked up Sets 1–3, plus a kindergarten set, used via eBay. For months they sat on a shelf. Several times I tried but failed to interest my four-year-old in them. I think their usefulness is all about timing.
My child, now five, has learned the alphabet and can recognize and write lower and upper case letters. Most of the time he associates the correct sound with a letter, although he still sometimes mixes up the similar-looking letters d, b, and g. He is just now gaining the ability to string together the sounds of letters into words. I am reminded of how hard this can be in English (as opposed to, say, Spanish), what with all the different possible letter sounds—we pronounce (for example) “one” the same as “won.” Bizarre.
I tried again to interest my child in a Bob Book—and this time he was receptive. In two days he’s read the first four books. I figure we’ll aim to read two or three per day until we finish. Then if he wants to start over, great; if he wants to be done, also great. I consider the Bob Books as a transition to him reading for himself his first “real books.” Once the Bob Books have served that purpose I’ll pass them along to the next child.
So, to summarize my advice: Get a a few Bob Books (paid link) (or something comparable) when your child is learning the alphabet and the letter sounds. Check in with your child every week or so to see if the books seem interesting. When and if they do, go for it. But don’t overdo it; I’ve found that reading through a single book in one sitting is actually fairly taxing for the child, though it takes but a few minutes. When the books no longer hold the child’s interests, move on to something more substantive.
