Bob Books Set 3: Word Families Kindle Edition

Six year old son loves this! He reads this to us before bed. Adores the whacky pictures. Was recommended to us — glad we decided to go with Bob Books for reading.

My daughter and I loved the first two sets in this boxed set. The previous ones were very easy and got just a little bit harder with each book so as to not discourage my daughter with too many rules. Granted, eventually the harder rules should be introduced, but since the first 2 books eased in at just the right pace, I would think this set would be the same. Not so--they move way too fast and teach a rule but then throw in a word that goes against that rule. My daughter refused to try to read anymore after the 2nd book the first night we got it because they were so frustrating. I also think the activity books are not that great--totally would have rather had those 2 books spread out the rules that they are trying to shove in the other 8 books.The first book introduced "y" at the end of words as in floppy, "ed" as in stopped/begged, and "er" as in after. This isn't a big deal, but a lot of new rules to try to described to a new reader who is used to just adding ONE consonant sound each book.Book 2 continues teaching the y at the end of the word and also continued words ending in "ed" as in flapped and bobbed. It also introduced "ew" as in flew. ALSO introduced "sh." ALSO introduced "ies" as in pennies. Again, much too much new rules before the child had time to get a grasp of what was taught in the previous book. The point of the series (I thought) was to make children proud of reading and excited they can read "all by themsemves!" How are they supposed to when each page you have to describe a new rule?Book 3 continues with the absurd rules and changes of sounds. "Mama Frog and Papa Frog." Why not just say Mom, or Mum, or even Mommy since we are learning words end in y? Dad, Pop, Daddy! The a's in mama and papa are different from what the child has been accustomed to in both book sets one and two (a "regular" short a at is at, map, pam, etc). Again, not a HUGE deal when looked at alone, but in addition to all the new rules, it is very discouraging to yet again not be able to read the page without a correction from the parent.Book 3 also spews out "polliwog," I suppose to teach i sounding like ee? Again, unnecessary and discouraging to the child. Also introduced is "ir" in bird. Also long i as in hide and dive. AGAIN--teaching long i's would be GREAT if that was the only new rule to concentrate on in the whole book.For some reason I can't find book 4 right now so cannot comment specifically but I do remember that it introduces "ar" as in car. It also throws in "started" which is pronounced differently that the child has become accustomed to in the previous books as in popped, stopped. Easily could have caused less confuses by saying "the car did start." not "the car started." Again, that is all I remember off the top of my head right now from that book.Book 5 and 6 finally slow down and there are almost no new rules--just a "toes" that needs to be said with a long o. Finally time to practice without having to keep track of new rules.Book 7 introduces ing and ung, which again I think could be held off, or in the very least only teach ONE at a time. It also says "carrot" which is completely different sounding compared to what they have learned from the previous books. They JUST learned "ar" as in car and here they go throwing in another word that does not follow that rule.It was just very disappointing if you are used to the previous BOB books. I feel like these books needed to be spread over 2 sets so the rules could be introduced one or two at a time and gave the child time to successfully use the rules they are learning before being thrown another rule. I absolutely adored the previous sets because there was only one or two new sounds introduced each book--it gave my child just the right amount of challenge to not discourage.

I have a 4 year old who is in preschool. I wanted to supplement and encourage reading at home. I started with the Bob series. I purchased the first set of Bob books. I like the Bob books because each page had 7-8 word sentences. It's not overwhelming for first readers. I read and underlined with my fingers every word on a page. Then it was my child's turn to read the page. He practiced reading the page over and over. I pulled out the vocabulary words from each page and made 3X5 flash cards. We took a page at a time to review the words. We also practice spelling the word. Then he had to makeup a sentence using the new word. We took our time to read and practice every page. It took 1-2 weeks to complete the first book. Each book set had 3 levels and 5 books per level. I also purchased the BOB Workbooks which are very comprehensive. In today's times parents, grandparents and caregivers are the first line of teachers not the school system.

All the BOB books have been a great help with the child I am teaching to read. Stories are simple and cute, lines are easy to read and understand.

Wow these are wonderful. I've ordered and used the Stage 2 for emerging readers and just recently got stage 3 for the developing reader (word families). Other publishers just list words in the word families. Bob's books makes STORIES out of the word families. This really makes the child feel accomplished when they can read an entire book.I use these with my 5 year old grandchild and we were suppose to skip a day (because he doesn't have school on Wed so we usually skip Wed.) but after reading 3 stories from stage 2 emerging reader he asked to do "reading" the next day.!! Imagine a child asking to do school work!....I will continue to order the other sets Bob has out.!!

We love Bob books for reinforcing reading skills learned in school. This set is fun and silly and the illustrations are updated. I'd give it 5 stars for content. However, the construction of the books are sloppy. We've had two that have have had the middle staples not go through all the way and pages seem to be out of order. This is particularly bad on Book 4, "The Red Car". Add to that, there are no page numbers as in earlier Bob books so I don't even know if I'm putting the pages in the right order and some of that is due to the silliness of the stories. Overall, we do love our Bob book reading time. They are perfect in size and length for this age group.

The main reason I purchased this set was to give my 5-1/2 yr old something that he could actually read all by himself. For that reason these books get a 5 star from me. At bedtime last night I told him to pick out a book for me to read to him and that I had a book for him to read to me (the first book in this set). I had to insist that he save the rest of the books in the set for another time after he finished the 2nd and 3rd books as well. I think between the 3 books he read I only had to help him with 3 words (polliwogs for example). He was absolutely thrilled with these books and the fact that HE was able to read the book to ME gave him alot of confidence. This set is the first set of Bob Books we've had, I skipped getting the first set just because it looked way to easy and a little beneath the reading level my son is at. Each book in this set is just about the right length, long enough that my son felt like HE read a good story, but short enough that he didn't get bored with it. We timed how long HE was reading to me, his kindergarten teacher wants to track reading time at home for a monthly reward program, and it took him right at about 4-1/2 minutes per book. I would totally recommend these books, I plan on getting a few of the other sets now that I've seen how much my son loves this set.

These help my son immensely - not sure how they do it but they work.

Really not happy with some of the words in these books.One word is actually a racist term. Will be reporting this as unacceptable. I understand you are only a seller but I suggest you read the book about frogs.

Not as described and pictured. I received an older version not June 2016 as per item description. Will return.

These are okay but it's worth noting that they're American - 'mom' instead of 'mum'! Confusing for English beginner readers! They are paperback and small (about 10cm square) they look quite cheap and home made - stapled together. Also they are only 2 colour - i.e. black and white with red highlights.

I’m a huge fan of Bob books but Set 3 and Set 4 are a mess. They suddenly introduce new sounds and concepts in these books with no explanation. Where the earlier books had introduced new concepts or sounds at the start of each book and usually only one at a time, set 3 does a massive leap forwards with no prior warning. For example, the second book of the set introduces the sight words said, awk and lollipop, while also introducing y vowel endings, ies endings and ed endings. Somehow the authors think a child can’t learn long vowels until the end of the series but introduces all these in book 2 of the set. My son and I abandoned BOB books after this set and switched to the “Now I’m reading! Complete Set”.

These are great because they are simple for early readers. It promotes a feeling of success and accomplishment as the books are short and slowly build upon skills.