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Bob
A rooster learns his sound(s)
Inspired by a pep talk from a cat, a rooster named Bob who's been spending his days merely clucking and never crowing flies the coop to find his true voice. Along the way, he meets many animals who teach him their sounds—but unfortunately not the one he's looking for. Away from the farm all night long, Bob is greeted early in the morning by just the right noise. It's dark by the time he gets back to the henhouse, and when a dangerous fox intrudes, Bob has an urgent reason to try his new crow before daybreak—but "cock-a-doodle-do" alone may not be enough to do the trick.
The tongue-in-cheek text and lively pictures will make this book a perfect story-time selection.
Inspired by a pep talk from a cat, a rooster named Bob who's been spending his days merely clucking and never crowing flies the coop to find his true voice. Along the way, he meets many animals who teach him their sounds—but unfortunately not the one he's looking for. Away from the farm all night long, Bob is greeted early in the morning by just the right noise. It's dark by the time he gets back to the henhouse, and when a dangerous fox intrudes, Bob has an urgent reason to try his new crow before daybreak—but "cock-a-doodle-do" alone may not be enough to do the trick.
The tongue-in-cheek text and lively pictures will make this book a perfect story-time selection.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 25, 2002
45 people want to read
About the author
Tracey Campbell Pearson
44 books8 followersTracey Campbell Pearson was born in Norwalk, Connecticut. The youngest of four children, her family moved to neighboring Wilton when she was eight years old. While attending Parsons School of Design, she studied with Maurice Sendak and discovered her love for creating children's books. After her graduation from Parsons in 1978, -she began her career as a staff artist at American Greetings Corp. in Cleveland, Ohio. She returned to New York City in 1980, where she began a full-time career as a freelance illustrator. Her first book, We Wish You a Merry Christmas [Dial 1981], was a Booklist reviewer's choice.
Since 1980, Tracey Campbell Pearson has illustrated more than twenty-five books for children. She wrote five of those, including The Howling Dog [Farrar Straus arid Giroux 1991], selected as one of the top 100 Classic New England Children's Books, Yankee Magazine. The Purple Hat [FSG 1991] and her recent book, Where Does Joe Go? [FSG 1999], which won a-2000 Oppenheim Toy "Portfolio Gold" Award and -receivjed-starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. P.W. describes Joe as "One of the cleversest entries this season...". The story is based on the seasonal changes at a snack bar in her hometown in Vermont.
Many of her books - The Awful Aardvarks Go to School [Viking 1971], The Missing Tarts [Viking 1981] - have received starred and notable reviews. Her awards include a Parent's Choice Award for illustration, Time Magazine "Best Books", and Parenting Magazine's "Reading Top Magic" Award. She is also the illustrator of the Claude and Shirley series, written by Joan Lowery Nixon, a Parent's Choice Award winner about an amusing couple who are Texas pioneers.
Ms. Pearson moved to Vermont in 1982, where she lives with her husband, son, daughter, dog, cat and chickens ... all of whom have made guest appearances in her books.
Since 1980, Tracey Campbell Pearson has illustrated more than twenty-five books for children. She wrote five of those, including The Howling Dog [Farrar Straus arid Giroux 1991], selected as one of the top 100 Classic New England Children's Books, Yankee Magazine. The Purple Hat [FSG 1991] and her recent book, Where Does Joe Go? [FSG 1999], which won a-2000 Oppenheim Toy "Portfolio Gold" Award and -receivjed-starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. P.W. describes Joe as "One of the cleversest entries this season...". The story is based on the seasonal changes at a snack bar in her hometown in Vermont.
Many of her books - The Awful Aardvarks Go to School [Viking 1971], The Missing Tarts [Viking 1981] - have received starred and notable reviews. Her awards include a Parent's Choice Award for illustration, Time Magazine "Best Books", and Parenting Magazine's "Reading Top Magic" Award. She is also the illustrator of the Claude and Shirley series, written by Joan Lowery Nixon, a Parent's Choice Award winner about an amusing couple who are Texas pioneers.
Ms. Pearson moved to Vermont in 1982, where she lives with her husband, son, daughter, dog, cat and chickens ... all of whom have made guest appearances in her books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
August 14, 2017
I would have given this book more stars but clearly the author needs to learn more about poultry. Claiming that Bob is not a chicken - he is a rooster? Um, a rooster IS a chicken. He is just not a hen like the other chickens in the book.
Other than that, the story was cute in all the different "languages" Bob learned before he found his voice as a rooster.
Other than that, the story was cute in all the different "languages" Bob learned before he found his voice as a rooster.
February 26, 2020
Bob is a story about a roster that doesn’t know how to crow. Because of this he going to all of the different animals around the farm and asks them to teach him how to crow. Since they are not roosters, they teach him how to make their own noises, such as meow, woof, ribbet, and moo. After he finally meets a roster that teaches him how to crow, he goes home and sees a fox and in order to scare it, he makes all of the animals sound he had learned. The next morning, he wakes up the family will all of the sounds.
The overall theme of this book is inclusion and how you can learn different perspectives from different people, even if they don’t look like you.
When I read this book, I found myself thinking about the different perspectives I could gain from asking people about what they know. Although every animal told him that he needed to learn to crow, he still wanted to learn all of the different sounds.
I would recommend this book because it shows the importance of how just because people don’t look like you, you can learn something from everyone. This is a valuable lesson for children because sometimes children tend to stick to their own crowds and get uncomfortable around new people. This book can help them to want to explore different populations to be able to learn new things and wanting to utilize this knowledge in the future.
The overall theme of this book is inclusion and how you can learn different perspectives from different people, even if they don’t look like you.
When I read this book, I found myself thinking about the different perspectives I could gain from asking people about what they know. Although every animal told him that he needed to learn to crow, he still wanted to learn all of the different sounds.
I would recommend this book because it shows the importance of how just because people don’t look like you, you can learn something from everyone. This is a valuable lesson for children because sometimes children tend to stick to their own crowds and get uncomfortable around new people. This book can help them to want to explore different populations to be able to learn new things and wanting to utilize this knowledge in the future.
February 1, 2024
This book was about a rooster who did not know how to say good morning to everyone he only knew other animal sounds. He went on an adventure to learn how to say good morning (Cock a doodle do) and eventually learned. He uses all those sounds to wake up the chickens and the cat. This book was very funny and I think it would make a great read-aloud. There was repetition and it was real so the students could chant out what a cow says or what an owl says etc.
Author: Tracey Campbell Pearson
Illustrator: Tracey Campbell Pearson
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux September 25, 2002
Author: Tracey Campbell Pearson
Illustrator: Tracey Campbell Pearson
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux September 25, 2002
September 18, 2019
A rooster didn't know how to crow so he went searching for someone to teach him. Along the way he met different animals and learned how to make their sounds, until he met another rooster. When he returned home to the coop, he found a good use for all the animal sounds he knew.
Cute story, great illustrations.
Cute story, great illustrations.
September 1, 2020
Bob is a rooster who doesn't know how to crow -- he only clucks. So he goes searching for a rooster to teach him how to "cock-a-doodle-do." But first, he meets a cat, dog, frog, and cow who teach him how to make other animal noises. Those other noises come in handy when a fox tries to come into the chicken coop!
February 1, 2024
Hilarious with kiddos!! This book helps students learn the animals and what sounds they make, all while they laugh. I personally loved the owls Hoo's making Bob say his name in a whisper.
October 30, 2012
Bob By: Tracey Campbell Pearson is a great story!! This story is about a rooster who clucks, meows, woofs and many other noises but his own. The main idea of this story is about a rooster finding his true voice. The rooster flies around the coop and meets many animals along his way who teaches them their sounds. For example, the rooster's first encounter is a cat. Henrietta does not teach him how to crow, but teaches him how to meow! The main character is the Rooster and other characters in the book include: chickens, cat, dog, frog, cows, and a fox. The other characters in the book teach the rooster other animals and the sounds that make them unique. For example, when he comes across the frogs they teach him to Ribbet-Ribbet-Hop-Hop. This genre of this book belongs to Fiction/Comedy. The book does a great job of making children laugh with all the animal noises. Especially if you were to repeat the noises after you read it aloud! For example, the children would love to repeat the part, "Meow, Meow, Woof Wag, Ribbet Ribbet Hop Hop, Mooooo, and Yum yum Bugs!"
As a teacher I would use this book to read aloud in a large group and have the children interact along while I'm reading. I would let the children repeat the animal noises and make predictions! The repetitious text is a great way to get the children hooked and make guesses along with the story!
I would also extend the book and ask what other animal sounds could the Rooster also learn on a farm? This could help the children critically think. I could ask let them draw their own version of Bob afterwards! The overall fun art and animal noises really might help the students interact along with the story! For example, I think even making their own version of Bob helps them see that every Bob is different!
After researching Tracey Pearson's background all of her books came up in Non-religious genres and her cultural background is from Connecticut. It's hard to relate her religion/culture to the book when there was not much found, but the overall message is about identity crisis and finding out who you really are! The author does a great job of demonstrating every different animal sound and how that makes them unique. For example, when he comes across the cows he learned how to moo and chew crud, except he ate bugs instead. This shows how the cows and rooster are different, but the rooster still learned about the cows and knows that's what makes them unique. This book connects perfect with individuality, because it shows every animals talent, just like everyone has their own special talent that makes them unique! Although the book is more for entertainment, I really think it helps children see uniqueness in animals and a teacher can help relate the lesson to the classroom and peers!
As a teacher I would use this book to read aloud in a large group and have the children interact along while I'm reading. I would let the children repeat the animal noises and make predictions! The repetitious text is a great way to get the children hooked and make guesses along with the story!
I would also extend the book and ask what other animal sounds could the Rooster also learn on a farm? This could help the children critically think. I could ask let them draw their own version of Bob afterwards! The overall fun art and animal noises really might help the students interact along with the story! For example, I think even making their own version of Bob helps them see that every Bob is different!
After researching Tracey Pearson's background all of her books came up in Non-religious genres and her cultural background is from Connecticut. It's hard to relate her religion/culture to the book when there was not much found, but the overall message is about identity crisis and finding out who you really are! The author does a great job of demonstrating every different animal sound and how that makes them unique. For example, when he comes across the cows he learned how to moo and chew crud, except he ate bugs instead. This shows how the cows and rooster are different, but the rooster still learned about the cows and knows that's what makes them unique. This book connects perfect with individuality, because it shows every animals talent, just like everyone has their own special talent that makes them unique! Although the book is more for entertainment, I really think it helps children see uniqueness in animals and a teacher can help relate the lesson to the classroom and peers!
July 27, 2015
Category/Genre: Picture book/Fiction/Animal sounds/ humorous stories
Estimate age level of interest: Pre-K-3rd grade
Estimated reading level: 1st-2nd
Brief description: While looking for someone to teach him how to crow, Bob the rooster meets many animal friends and learns how to make their noises. This skill comes in handy when fox pays the coop a visit that night.
Identify two characteristics and explain how they are used in this book:
-Message is conveyed equally through two media (picture and text): In this book the author uses ink and watercolor to show the action that is unraveling in the plot of the book. These illustrations further the story by foreshadowing what is to come. For example, in the corner of one page you can see the fox entering the farm but it is not where the eye is immediately drawn to. On the next page, fox tries to break into the chicken coop. The illustrations also add humor through various animal expressions.
-Supports important concepts:
This book teaches children that they can ask for help from friends when learning new skills and introduces diversity of language. The main character Bob learns from cat, dog, frog, and other farm friends what noise they make and eventually uses all of the noises he learns to protect his friends from fox.
In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience? This book as a whole strongly suits its intended audience. Kids of many ages will love the rooster Bob and his silly antics. Children will be able to predict Bob will make next by looking at the illustrations before hearing the text on that page. Also, the text for each animal noise is spread throughout the page and in all capitals, students will love to make the animal noises along with Bob. This story meshes humor with animal noises, as well as a lesson on how to learn from others and ask for help.
Awards: Oppenheim Gold Award, Arkansas Diamond Primary Book award list grades K-3, NCTE Notable Children’s book in Language Arts
Reviews:
Horn Book Guide, 2003
School Library Journal, Aug. 1st 2002
October 11, 2012
"Bob" tells a story of two friends, whom are the main characters, Bob the rooster and Henrietta the cat. The main idea of the story is to inform children of differences between animals by teaching the sounds they make. In other views, "Bob" show individualism in characters. The genre of this book, by Tracey Pearson, is comedy and humor, which grasp the attention and laughter of children by reading aloud the sounds of all animals together, "Meow-Woof-Ribbet-Moooo-Yum-Yum-Bugs!"
I would use this book in my classroom to create a humorous environment and ensure the learning of individualism, and learning from other students just like Bob learned sounds from all other animals. I would create costumes of Bob, Henrietta, and all the other characters in the book out of construction paper. As the teacher, I would then tell the story and allow the students to act it out. I would tie the story "Bob" into real life perspective by asking the students discussion questions at the end. An example of these questions would be; "What can you tell Susie about your family that she doesn't know already?"
After searching for Pearson's cultural background, I came out unlucky. Although, I did learn that "Bob" was written and drawn from experiences from Tracey Pearson's own life. Living next to her neighbor who owned a farm, she ran into Bob one day getting the mail, who was just learning how to crow and "adopted" him for a few weeks in order to write and illustrate his own autobiography. Tracey Pearson captures the illustrations of the animals to a tee, specifically Bob the rooster, bringing the book to life. "Bob" relates to individualism by showing that every animal, or person, is different; whether it be by looks or sounds. Yet, we may all learn from each other.
I would use this book in my classroom to create a humorous environment and ensure the learning of individualism, and learning from other students just like Bob learned sounds from all other animals. I would create costumes of Bob, Henrietta, and all the other characters in the book out of construction paper. As the teacher, I would then tell the story and allow the students to act it out. I would tie the story "Bob" into real life perspective by asking the students discussion questions at the end. An example of these questions would be; "What can you tell Susie about your family that she doesn't know already?"
After searching for Pearson's cultural background, I came out unlucky. Although, I did learn that "Bob" was written and drawn from experiences from Tracey Pearson's own life. Living next to her neighbor who owned a farm, she ran into Bob one day getting the mail, who was just learning how to crow and "adopted" him for a few weeks in order to write and illustrate his own autobiography. Tracey Pearson captures the illustrations of the animals to a tee, specifically Bob the rooster, bringing the book to life. "Bob" relates to individualism by showing that every animal, or person, is different; whether it be by looks or sounds. Yet, we may all learn from each other.
February 11, 2017
I really did not enjoy reading this book. The subtext was that individuals have a certain role they are biologically destined to play, and all is chaos until they learn how to play that role. And those biological roles were very tied to gender.
It gets two stars instead of one because my 2-year-old liked it.
It gets two stars instead of one because my 2-year-old liked it.
August 31, 2013
Summary: Bob the rooster doesn't know how to crow. So he visits other animals on the farm to ask for help. He finds a cat, a dog, some frogs, and some cows. They teach him how to make their own sounds. Bob heads to the woods to find someone to help him learn to crow. As the sun comes up, he meet Fred the rooster who teaches him how to crow. Back at the hen house, Bob heads off to sleep with the hens. Meanwhile, a fox sneaks onto the farm. Bob tries to scare it away with a loud crow but it doesn't work. They bob succeeds in scaring off the fox with the sounds he learned "Meow, Ruff, Ribbet, Yum Yum Fox!"
*Bob is a Dominican rooster like I just saw at Casey Farm this summer in RI.
Loving this story with my kids right now - ages 3 and 5. This would be a great story to pair with Bark George, Roosters Off to See the World, and my favorite song - I Had a Rooster.
Storytime themes: roosters, birds, farms, animal sounds
*Bob is a Dominican rooster like I just saw at Casey Farm this summer in RI.
Loving this story with my kids right now - ages 3 and 5. This would be a great story to pair with Bark George, Roosters Off to See the World, and my favorite song - I Had a Rooster.
Storytime themes: roosters, birds, farms, animal sounds
April 9, 2016
Bob the rooster clucks like a chicken, but Henrietta the cat points out that a rooster has to crow to wake the farm every morning. So Bob sets out to find another rooster to teach him how to crow. On the way, he learns to make a multitude of animal sounds that serve him well in the end. This is an engaging, amusing story with the repetition and feel of a folktale. It is, in fact, a variant of the Grimm's fairy tale "The Traveling Musicians of Bremen," in which several misfit animals band together and frighten away a band of robbers. Pair this one at storytime with "Jack" by Tomie DePaola (another variant of "The Traveling Musicians of Bremen") or "The Little Rabbit Who Liked To Say Moo" by Jonathan Allen.
March 26, 2014
Title: Bob
Author: Tracey Campbell Pearson
Date of Publication: 2002
Genre: Fiction/Picture Book
Annotations: Bob the rooster doesn’t know how to crow. He takes a journey meeting other animals and the sounds they make until he comes by another rooster that teaches him how to crow.
The pictures and layout of text in this book are really nice and easy to follow along with. This book is good for teaching children what roosters do and what sounds animals make.
Discussion and Comprehension Questions for children:
What sound does a rooster make?
Can roosters make other animal sounds in real life?
What does Bob do to scare the fox away?
Author: Tracey Campbell Pearson
Date of Publication: 2002
Genre: Fiction/Picture Book
Annotations: Bob the rooster doesn’t know how to crow. He takes a journey meeting other animals and the sounds they make until he comes by another rooster that teaches him how to crow.
The pictures and layout of text in this book are really nice and easy to follow along with. This book is good for teaching children what roosters do and what sounds animals make.
Discussion and Comprehension Questions for children:
What sound does a rooster make?
Can roosters make other animal sounds in real life?
What does Bob do to scare the fox away?
January 12, 2013
Poor Bob, he doesn't know how to cockle-doodle-doo and clucks like a hen instead! Cat encourages Bob to literally find his "calling" (bad, I know...LOL!), and he meets a variety of animals along the way to help him, only they are all teaching him the wrong sounds! Will Bob ever learn to cockle-doodle-doo?
This is such a humorous book! It's a great choice for participation because the kids can practice their animal sounds. I read it for a chickens/roosters/chicks-themed program for bilingual story time, and it was a hit.
This is such a humorous book! It's a great choice for participation because the kids can practice their animal sounds. I read it for a chickens/roosters/chicks-themed program for bilingual story time, and it was a hit.
November 10, 2012
Bob is a story about a rooster who does not know how to crow. He sets off on an adventure to learn to crow and along the way meets some cows, chickens, dogs, cats and an owl. The best part is when he meets an owl. Eventually, after a long night he meets a rooster, Fred, that teaches Bob how to crow. Bob uses all of his newly learned skills to save the chickens and the cat from a fox who invades their barn at night. Bob is a cute and hilarious story of a rooster who finds his purpose at on the farm.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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November 26, 2009The book is about a rooster that doesn't know how to crow. Bob asks all the other animals teach him how to moo, bark, etc but not crow. Then Bob meets another rooster that teaches him how to crow and then Bob is able to crow and use all the other animal sounds he learned to scare away a fox from eating the chickens.
May 17, 2011
Rooster learns confidence after adopting the languages of other animals; saves lives of other animals. Good illustrations, engaging for young kids. The best page in the book is when Bob wanders into a wooded area at night, hears "Who, Who, Who", and unwittingly answers "Bob, Bob, Bob" all night long in reply. Kids will love to discover that they get that joke! Booklegger, grades K-2.
December 19, 2016
Read at Tales for Fours and Fives on 8/11/11: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at preschool story time on 11/29/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at Pre-K class visit on 3/21/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at preschool story time on 11/29/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
Read at Pre-K class visit on 3/21/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
December 8, 2011
Bob was such a clever, funny book! The kids, especially my four year old nephew, were tickled to death by Bob's efforts to learn to crow. Bob's expressions are pricelss, and really, I think he's the funniest rooster since Foghorn Leghorn. This is an excellent, fun book, and I think it is a great choice for pre-school and kindergarten kids.
January 4, 2013
I feel like I've read a book with this premise before, but this one is still very well done. A rooster doesn't know how to make the sounds he needs to make, and as he goes searching to learn how, he learns a lot of other animal sounds on his way. Reading the book with a young child is fun because of the repeated sounds as Bob learns more and more.
January 19, 2013
Henrietta the cat points out to Bob the rooster that he is a rooster and not a hen. Henrietta also points out that Bob needs to learn to crow to wake the hens each morning. So Bob goes in search of a rooster to teach him to crow. He meets many animals along the way that teach him their unique calls.
May 26, 2014
This is a funny story about a rooster who is learning to cockadoodledo and along the way learns a few other sounds. I plan to use this with kindergarteners to talk about the setting of the book - also because they already have some amount of schema for this book and we can easily build on to it further.
September 7, 2016
Sweet, funny book about a rooster who doesn't know how to crow. He takes a journey and learns how to make all the sounds his friends make, and finally learns to crow in the end. His new skill is tested when a fox shows up, and he is able to crow but not able to finish off the fox without all the sounds he learned from his animal friends. Very sweet.
December 2, 2008
This is a fantastic book about a rooster who wants to learn how to crow, so he travels far and wide and learns other animal sounds. Thankfully there are no "rude" words or pictures, and this book is a delight of storytimes everywhere from beginning to end.
June 27, 2011
This book was a read-aloud selection for our Summer Reading Program. My boys and I thought it was hilarious. If we owned a copy, it would be one to pull out periodically to read. I liked the artwork. Bob is a handsome rooster! Kids ages 2-8.
April 25, 2012
I thought this book would be great for sequencing. I also thought it would be great for making predictions because there was a clear pattern. It also has a great message, showing that what makes you different can also make you great.
September 15, 2007
Delightful tale of a rooster named Bob who needs help learning to crow. The ending is a fun twist on The Bremen Town Musicians.
August 25, 2008
Bob the rooster is great fun! With all the animal noises, repetition, and fun art, it worked well in Storytime. Bob is such a multilinguist!
March 2, 2009
A legitimate "laugh out loud with your toddler" story. This charming book was a hit from page one on.
February 2, 2012
Very cute
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews