Toybox Thursday: BOB Books Sight Words Review & Giveaway

With my oldest Diva starting Kindergarten in August (gasp!) I have been focusing on teaching her to read. We have been working on developing her phonetic skills and of course recognizing and reading sight words.

Why do we focus on teaching children sight words? It's quite simple - sight words are common words that appear again and again in children's reading material. Some sight words can be decoded using phonics (i.e. sounding them out) but some can not. Knowing these words by sight is crucial to reading fluency and ultimately aids in comprehension. 


I was drawn to BOB Books through word of mouth and online success stories. Once I looked into them and found they had been written by a teacher for her young preschool aged students - I knew I had to try them! If you do not know the BOB Story take a moment to read it. It is quite inspiring how these little books all began and how they have remained a family managed business. I have been corresponding with Lynn the eldest daughter of THE actual "Bob" behind the BOB Books and their current Managing Partner for months and she has been absolutely wonderful to work with - this speaks volumes about both the company and their products. 


Our Introduction to BOB Books:

I have successfully been using BOB Books with the Lil Divas for the past few months. We began with the Beginning Readers (Set 1) which is a great place to start with early readers. The books in this set slowly introduce new letter sounds using consistency and repetition. The set begins with four letters in the first story and gradually introduces new sounds. Each story features simple yet engaging characters/illustrations and makes use of a combination of short vowel and three-letter words in simple sentences and repetitive text.  


The Lil Divas have both had great success with these books at their own rates.  It has become part of our nighttime routine to have them read to me a BOB book each night after our mommy led storytime. The pride they feel after completing a book "on their own" is absolutely priceless! It has really sparked their desire to read and helped build their confidence.

Considering our success with the Beginning Readers we were all excited to be able to review BOB Books Sights Words Kindergarten & First Grade. It seemed they would be a natural fit with everything we are currently working on. Once I received the books I looked them over and pulled a few books focusing on sight words that the Oldest Diva has already learned in order to introduce the new sets to her. 

She was eager to read the books when I presented them to her and once again we were not disappointed. The Sight Words books contain the same characters she is used to from the Beginning Readers Set and with their consistent short vowels, simple/short stories and picture clues she can either sound out or decode most of the story which means a positive reading experience. 


About the Sight Words Books Sets:

Inside each box you'll find ten books which are each 12 pages long. The books are numbered and color coded like the other sets. All the stories are told using three and four letter words and each introduces the reader to three new sight words. The books make use of consistent short vowels, picture/context clues and simple sentences which are ideal for beginning readers. Each book set introduces young readers to 30 sight words.

The sets also include 30 double-sided sight words flash cards with sentences and illustrations from the books. The flash cards are color coded so you can easily figure out which to use with what book.  These would be great to use in games, review or offering a little extra practice of books already read.

Sight words introduced in the Kindergarten set: a, as, can, did, down, fly, get, go, goes, had, has, home, in, is, jump, look, not, off, on, over, ran, saw, see, she, some, they, to, was, went, who. 

Sight words introduced in the First Grade set: after, are, ate, before, bring, come, find, good, he, into, like, little, long, make, my, new, now, old, play, pretty, said, she, than, that, too, under, what, will, with, you.

Our Impressions:

BOB Books have really made my young readers feel confident while learning to read. The way the Sight Words Sets introduce sight words in conjunction with simple sentences utilizing short vowels, repetitive text and picture clues make for a successful reading experience. My Oldest Diva's fluency and comprehension have improved by leaps and bounds in the past few weeks and we couldn't be happier or more proud of her effort. 

Here is a short video of her reading one of the BOB Books Sight Words

Kindergarten Set books - Who? (turn up your volume!) 

I know the BOB books we have used have really made a huge difference in my Lil Divas learning to read which is why I am so excited that the generous people at Scholastic and BOB Books Publications, LLC are giving away two sets of BOB Books Sight Words Kindergarten and First Grade here on Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas blog! :)

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Buy It:
Purchase BOB Books Sight Words Sets via Amazon,
Costco, your local book sellers and Educational/Teacher Stores.

Win It:

Scholastic and BOB Books Publications, LLC are giving away
two (2) sets of BOB Books Sight Words (1) Kindergarten and (1) First Grade
to Two (2) lucky Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Reader!

How to Enter:

**Contest ends on 7/21/11**

Visit BOB Books and tell me which other book set you would like to try. 

Extra Entries (Optional)

Please leave a separate comment for each entry &

please include your e-mail so I can get back to you if you win! 

*If you are already a follower please comment - that counts as 2 entries*

1. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Publicly via Google Friend Connect (+2) leave 2 comments
2. "Like" Bob Books on facebook 
3. Follow Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas on Twitter  (+2) leave 2 comments
4. Follow Bob Books on Twitter
5. Subscribe to Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas emails  (+2) leave 2 comments
6. Make a comment on any non-giveaway post on Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Blog and leave a link.  You can do this for up to 5 posts but please note that comment must be dated after the start date of this post - not valid on previous comments. (+2) leave 2 comment.
7. Tweet about this giveaway & leave a link - can be done 1x a day!
Tweet: #Win @BOB_Books Sight Words K & 1st Grade Sets w/@Momto2PoshDivas
#Giveaway ends 7/21 http://t.co/8L3IjS2 #homeschool #reading #preschool

   Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway ends 7/21/2011 at 11:59 (PDT)
Winner will be chosen via random.org.
& contacted via email if an email is given .
Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Disclaimer: I received the BOB Books Sight Words Kindergarten & First Grade Sets for the purposes of trying them out for this review. That being said, this review is my 100% honest opinion of this product - I am not paid for my reviews or optinions! They are 100% mine! Please remember that your opinions and tastes might differ from mine.

Good Luck,

Bern