Bobby Lynn Maslen

This author of the extremely popular Bob Books had attended the Rhode Island School of Design where she met her future husband.  Maslen caught her idea for the Bob Books from teaching young children at Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon.  Using her skills to help give her students extra practice in beginning reading, she created handmade books for each child that was tailored around the individual.  In each book she had characters called Mat and Sam that were based on two dolls she had purchased at a craft fair.  Eventually it became too much work, and Maslen convinced her school to print 300 copies of books that she created which weren't specific to one child.  For packaging, Maslen used sandwich bags to encase the dozen books in each set.

This homemade business began to grow when Portland State University continued the publishing, and then the Maslens published the books themselves.  Maslen hired her husband to create new pictures for the books, market them, and deal with the publishing aspects.  Their four children also helped in the various processes.  Demand increased when homeschoolers and Montessori teachers began using Bob Books for reading.  However, it was after the media took to the story and introduced a wider audience to the Maslen family and their books that it became impossible for the Maslens to do it all themselves.  They looked to Scholastic, Inc. for help, and the five sets of Bob Books are available to young readers all over the world.

Though Maslen has stepped down from writing and marketing the books, her eldest daughter, Lynn Maslen Kertell, is now managing the family business.

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