ReedALOUD: BOB

How easy is it to grow attached to a  small green non-zombie creature wearing a homemade chicken suit? 

Very. 

Especially if he is a dictionary reader, a Lego builder, and a chess player.
Especially if he is a patient.
Especially if he is a great friend.
Especially if he is trying to find his way home.
Especially if you care for the young girl trying to help him find his way home. 

Especially if he is a character created by the incredible writing duo if Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead. 

The fact that they found time to work on this project while balancing all their other writing commitments and raising families speaks to their faithfulness to this story and it shows. 

This is the story of BOB.

Bob has been waiting in the closet for Livy to return and help him find his way home. 

Bob has been waiting longer than he expected. After five long years she has returned, and together they must unravel the clues about how they met and where Bob came from.

Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass have created a heart-warming and memorable story of friendship. 

Stead and Mass have created a story that will stay with readers long after they have finished reading it and that allows readers space to think and ponder. These characters and their stories stay with us. The writing is tight and spare and rich. Each sentence is important and brings us further into the mystery, while also introducing us to the community Livy and Bob inhabit. We grow to care for not only Livy and Bob, but their friends and family as well. 

A few things that I really loved:

Readers will identify with the one special and magical object that brings Livy and Bob together. We all have things around us that remind us of the people we love and the experiences we have. 

The scene by the well stole my heart. These are moments where friendship knows no bounds. 

I was fortunate to be able to hear them talk about their book recently. It is clear that this story is a true collaborative effort grown from a seed idea years ago. 

For seven years these two well-established writers passed the story of Bob back and forth adding chapters in the alternating voices. Rebecca Stead wrote the Livy chapters, while Wendy Mass wrote the Bob chapters. From the sound of it, they pushed each other and cheered each other on. 

I've already purchased my library copies. Not only will students love this one, I think teachers will want to read it as a classroom read aloud.