Bob Books - Set 1: Beginning Readers Box Set | Phonics, Ages 4 and up, Kindergarten (Stage 1: Starting to Read)

As a teacher, I absolutely love the Bob Books – Animal Stories Box Set for young readers! This set is a fantastic collection of decodable phonics books that make early reading practice meaningful and confidence-building. Each story is carefully leveled so that kids can practice specific phonics skills — which is exactly what we strive for in Kindergarten and early literacy instruction. The animal-themed stories are engaging and fun, so students are excited to read them independently. I’ve used these in small groups, literacy centers, and one-on-one interventions, and they work beautifully in all settings. Since the text is simple and predictable, emergent readers actually read the words (not guess them), which builds fluency and accuracy. Over the course of using these books, I’ve seen my students gain confidence and reading stamina. Overall, this set is a must-have for teachers who want high-quality, decodable practice — especially for students who are ready to make that leap from letter sounds to real reading. Highly recommended!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ 4.9 out of 5 stars The Phonics Phenomenon That Started It All! "Bob Books Boxed Set 1: Beginning Readers" is the timeless classic that has launched millions of young readers on their journey to literacy. This iconic phonics-based set is a true gem, designed with simplicity and effectiveness in mind, ensuring that even the littlest bookworms can proudly declare, “I read the whole book!”® One of the standout features of this set is its incredible ability to cater to the needs of brand-new readers. Many early reader books throw in words that can stump a child who's just grasping the sounds of the alphabet. Not these books! With the first story containing just four letter sounds (M, A, T, and S), children can dive right in and finish a whole book, giving their confidence a major boost. The joy on a child’s face when they read their first book all by themselves is absolutely priceless. Inside the box, you’ll find 12 easy-to-read, hilariously entertaining small books, each with 12 pages and 7-20 unique words per book. The stories use two- and three-letter words with short vowels that can be easily decoded or "sounded out." Think simple sentences like "Sam sat."—short, sweet, and manageable for young readers. The progression is gentle, with new letter sounds added gradually, so kids never feel overwhelmed. By the end, they've encountered almost all the letters of the alphabet (except for the elusive Q). The friendly, two-color illustrations are a perfect match for the text—fun without being distracting. They add just the right amount of humor and charm to keep kids engaged. Plus, the parent card with tips for helping your child learn to read is a thoughtful addition, making it easier for caregivers to support their little learners. Guided Reading Levels A, B, C and Lexile® Measure BR – 290L place this set right where it needs to be for ages 4-6 and PreK to Kindergarten grade levels. Created by a teacher and grounded in the Science of Reading, Bob Books has been a reliable tool for building young readers' confidence, success, and love of reading for more than forty years. Why the 4.9 and not a perfect 5 stars? Well, in the spirit of honesty, I think the simplicity might leave parents wishing for just a touch more story variety. But that's a small nitpick for an otherwise stellar set. In conclusion, "Bob Books Boxed Set 1: Beginning Readers" is an absolute must-have for any parent or teacher looking to give their child a head start in reading. It’s a tried-and-true series that will have your little one beaming with pride as they read their first books. So, get ready to join the millions of happy kids who joyfully proclaim, "I read the whole book!"

I LOVE Bob books! I taught my own kids to read on these books and I bought this for my 3 year old grandson. He really enjoys reading them, and he CAN read them. He picked up the idea of it readily and was trying out all the words without any prompting from me. In an age when many schools no longer teach phonics, these books are a huge boon to kids trying to learn to read, by introducing simple words withing simple word families. It leads to early success. Early success can lead to a lifetime love of learning. I highly recommend these books.

These books are an incredible tool for teaching kids to read. I LOVE how they just introduce a few new letter sounds in each book, so kids don't have to master every letter sound in order to read the first book. Pure genius. It truly makes the whole process less overwhelming, and I'll always teach early reading this way in the future. I wish I had had them when teaching my first child to read. I am currently teaching my niece to read. Since this is my second time around, and since I've discovered these books, I feel like I have a pretty great system down. I am using this first set of Bob Books, a pack of index cards, a magnetic dry-erase board, and a set of magnetic letters. Because children can very easily memorize these books, without fully understanding how to sound out the words, I don't feel like using the books alone, with no other exercises, is sufficient to truly teach them to read (for example, my 3-year-old likes to memorize the books and pretend he is "reading"). So for my niece (age 6), we are moving through the books systematically, learning the letter sounds and words in each book. For each book, I make a set of customized flashcards, using words found in that book, plus other 3-letter, consonant-vowel-consonant words that are not found in the book, but use letter sounds found in the books that she has read already. We practice the books and flashcards separately, to make sure she is truly learning to sound out those words (and she is!). We also use a magnetic dry-erase board and a magnetic letter set to do different exercises. In one exercise we make a word with the magnetic letters, using letter sounds she has already mastered. She reads it, and then she can switch out various letters to make new words to read. Sometimes it's a real word, and sometimes a "nonsense word", which makes it fun for her. She also enjoys moving the magnetic letters around, so this makes reading more fun for her. This is a great way to reinforce, for example, that not every word that starts with "ca" is "cat". Switch out the "t" for an "n", and you have "can". It really helps her focus on how the individual letter sounds come together to make a whole word. I guess my point to all this is; these are great, wonderful books, and are perfect for what they are. But I don't consider them a complete system for teaching a child to read (and I don't think they claim to be that either). But they can form a huge part of a complete system, at least at the early stages. I don't have the other sets (set 2 and beyond), so I can't say yet if these would be sufficient for teaching more complex words, but I am, of course, prepared to supplement and adjust when we get to that point. I can say that, for these earliest stages, they were worth every penny I paid for them, and more.

My four-year-old received this set yesterday and is reading it right now to his grandparents. He’s so excited to show them his reading and share the silly stories! For background: He goes to a Montessori school, so he has a very good grasp of the letters and their sounds and already knows how to sound out simple words to read and approximately spell them. With summer break here, I wanted to make sure he’s still advancing and stimulated and I could tell from his level that he was ready to read simple beginner books. I bought the McGuffey Pictorial reader first, and he thrived on the first few pages. But the difficulty level and abstractness of the content increased too quickly. He needed more content at that introductory level to practice and enjoy his newfound skill of reading. I checked local libraries and all the “beginner” readers there were still a bit too advanced. A blog highly recommended the Bob books, so I searched to see whether local libraries had any copies… nope, all loaned out. Very popular books, it seems. So I bought it here…. Reading level and structure: The books are the perfect reading level! The first one is a story about Mat and Sam, and only uses simple, two-to-three-letter words that are easily sounded out. Book 1 only uses a handful of letters, and each subsequent book adds around 2-4 letters and a subtle bit of complexity. Each book intentionally repeats the same words several times for more practice and solidifying how the sounds come together, as well as for easier reading as the book goes on to reward their hard work with a sense of accomplishment and to let them appreciate the story as it comes to its silly conclusions. As for how quickly complexity is added from one book to the next, I would say it’s just about right. Of course I would always love to have more material at any given level, especially with how much he loves the stories, but really it is probably best as is because it leads the student to want to go to the next level. He doesn’t seem to have any lack of material and just now read a book by himself to his grandparents that we didn’t go over yesterday! And did I mention how much he loves the stories? Bonus tip: Yesterday he had trouble when b and d were in a story together. If your kid has that problem too, just do an internet search for a picture that’s floating around of a “b” and a “d” drawn as humanized stick figures. Their faces are both facing right, so the b has a “big belly” and the d has a “dirty diaper”. Kids find it hilarious and it’s a great visual device to distinguish the two while automatically remembering their sounds.

The Bob Books Set 1 is perfect for helping kids build confidence as they learn to read. The stories are simple, clear, and repetitive in a way that supports early phonics skills. The short length keeps kids engaged without overwhelming them, and the illustrations are cute and easy to follow. A great tool for parents and teachers looking to support beginning readers.

Easy to read repetitive in the words, which is great for learning well worth the money for beginner readers

This book is EVERYTHING AND ALL YOU NEED for beginner readers. It also gives you instructions on how to help them navigate reading. Also, at the back of the book it gives them a revision of sight words. It’s easy to read and it’s fun for them with simple pictures on each page to help them figure out what they’re reading about. I LOVE THIS BOOK SET!

These books are great! My son loves them. They gradually get more difficult and the difficultly jump between each book is just right for skill building without them getting too difficult too fast.

Nos los recomendó la profesora del cole que es escocesa para empezar a leer en casa en inglés. Son geniales!

A mi hijo y a mi esposa le encantaron. estoy muy satisfecho con mi compra

São frases simples com repetição, excelente para crianças iniciando o aprendizado de inglês.

Brilliant. Really helped my daughter with her first sounds and words!