Bob Books App Review

“Bravo, Bob Books!”

Have you heard of Bob Books? Developed over 35 years ago by a teacher, these beginner readers have helped over 2 million children learn to read. (Numbers quoted from John Maslen, husband and co-founder to Bobby Maslen.) To quote the Bob Books website, these books were developed to facilitate that ah-ha moment when letters first turn into words. As their website states:

“By slowly introducing new letter sounds, using consistency, repetition and stories that fit short attention spans - your child will quickly find his or her own ah-ha moment.”

The print copies have had a wide range of success and acclaim for the past two decades but the good news is they’ve gone digital! Now you can purchase a Bob Book app for your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The digital version still includes the authentic hand-drawn illustrations and beautiful colors but in addition there is simple drag-and-drop interface that encourages even the youngest reader to sound out words.  Bob Books are known for their simple yet effective style but I think the addition of a drag/drop user interface makes these books all the better!

The Bob Book app includes twelve scenes for a total of 32 words. The feature I liked was the four game levels where I can set the level higher depending on my child’s reading ability. 

As a mother I want to do all that I can to encourage a love of reading in my children and I think Bob Books has created a great app for early readers that does just that.  My daughter had a great time playing with this app as seen below in the video.

To purchase the Bob Book app visit the apps section of Apple’s iTunes store.

I did not receive any compensation for my review of Bob Books app although I was given an application to facilitate this review.  Any and all opinions here are my own.