Bob
By: Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead, Illustrated by Nicholas Gannon
My (and the kids) Review: FIVE out of FIVE stars
Best For: Everyone, and great to read aloud.

The elementary kids and I just finished a big-hearted book with a little name–Bob, by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead.

Bob is about an 11-year-old girl from America who visits her Grandma in Australia for the first time in 5 years. She doesn’t remember much about her last visit, which is odd because you’d think she’d remember Bob–the short, green creature dressed in a chicken costume she discovers living in the closet in her bedroom!

Bob and Livy work together to solve the mystery of who Bob is, where he came from, and how to get him home. Along the way they learn they can do hard things, how to be good friends, the importance of keeping promises, and how much they love their families.

It’s magical, funny and smart, with a great mystery to solve and clues to discover along the way. The illustrations by Nicholas Gannon are gorgeous and should be haning on a wall somewhere.  Bob was definitely a PLEASE-just-one-more-chapter kind of book.

I loved Bob, but don’t just take my word for it! My kiddos wanted to tell you about Bob themselves:

Kid Review (Age 7)
I liked like Bob because: It had good pictures and I liked the mystery of trying to figure out who Bob was.

My favorite part was: When Bob figures who he really is.

My least favorite part was: When Bob didn’t get to say goodby to Livy.

I think others should read Bob because: It’s funny.

Kid Review (Age 10)
I liked Bob because: I liked how it had a mystery of who Bob was and where he came from. I liked the characters. I liked that Bob was really funny. At the beginning I didn’t think Livy was the nicest, but in the end she turned out to be really nice.

My favorite part was: When Livy found Bob in the closet because of how surprised she was, even though it was at the very beginning. I loved how Bob described all the ways he kept himself busy hinding in the closet for the last 5 years.

My least favorite part was: Bob and Livy didn’t get to say a real goodbye. I felt like the author could have written it so they did.

I think others should read Bob because: It’s a really funny book and I loved reading it with my dad. It was lots of fun trying to fit the pieces together to find out the mystery of where Bob came from. I liked that you really could feel like you were in the other person’s shoes and you could be there with the characters, standing in the same room as them and experiencing the same things as them.

There you have it, straight from the mouth of those whose opinions matter the most.

All audiences. Highly recommend!

Get your copy here!

Happy Reading!