Book Review: The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: Into the Lead

Book: The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: Into the Lead (Blue Ocean Bob book #3) by Brooks Olbrys with illustrations by Kevin Keele

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Dive Deep with Blue Ocean Bob as He Takes the Lead Protecting All Life in the Sea of Kerchoo

An earthquake has set off an oil spill on the ocean floor, and Blue Ocean Bob faces his toughest challenge yet. After seeking advice from the local sage, Doc the turtle, Bob musters the courage to dive down and repair the damage alongside his mentor, Mary Marine. Upon their return, Wallace the walrus alerts Bob that a great white shark has been beached. Calling on his island friends, Bob devises a creative plan to set the shark free.

But when Mary is called away to a distant island, Bob has to put his fears (and those of his hummingbird guardian, Xena) aside and step into his mentor's shoes. Some unlikely allies help Bob in his new role, but he soon realizes that he needs even more help. Thanks to a tip from his trusted friend, Earl the clam, Bob finds the perfect candidate in a young girl he meets on the shore.

The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: Into the Lead is the third installment in this colorful and inspiring early chapter book series that provides young readers with an introduction to timeless principles of achievement.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Right off the bat, the artwork is beautiful. Below is an image from the book, isn't it amazing.

The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: Into the Lead is a cute and adventurous five chapter book that follows Bob, a courageous boy solving ocean related problems around his home town, the Island of Roses. He gets help from some of his animal friends: Xena, a pink hummingbird and a dutiful friend; Doc, a wise old turtle; Earl, a knowledgeable clam; Wallace, an optimistic walrus; Tom, a peaceful and helpful whale and Al, a dolphin who is a natural leader. Bob also has two human friends who help him, Mary Marine (seen above) a marine biologist who Bob works for and her niece Molly.

This book is written in an easy to follow rhyming verse with a really interesting plot.


Chapter #1: A Day's Work

In this first chapter, an earthquake caused a crack to open up on the ocean floor. That wouldn't be a problem except an oil leak has sprung up. It's up to Bob to try to fix it, however he's very nervous. Thankfully, Doc the turtle gave him some encouraging words.

While underwater, Bob along with Mary and Tom the whale, came up with a creative way to solve the problem.


Chapter #2: A Novel Approach

Chapter two finds Bob walking on the beach enjoying his accomplishments of fixing the oil leak when Wallace the walrus told him that the quake had created another problem. Turns out Andy the Great White shark was stranded on the beach. A wave had washed him ashore. Bob needed to find a way to help Andy back to the water. After some time, he came up with a quick plan that included the help from a lot of his animal friends.


Chapter #3: A Strange Secret

In chapter three, some days later, Mary received word from Great Lizard Island. The lizards were fighting and since Mary is an expert, they needed her help to figure out what was going on with them.

To make sure everything would be taken care of while she was gone, Mary recommended Bob to the Council (which consisted of Mary, Doc, Wallace, Al, Earl and Eve the octopus) as a temporary replacement. Bob was a little reluctant to take on the job. But some wise words from Doc soon had him believing in himself and that he could take on the task.


Chapter #4: Faithful Friends

In this fourth chapter, Bob was taking on the responsibilities now that Mary was away. When a frantic Al tells him that dolphins were trapped in nets (from the earthquake) leaving Bob trying to figure out how to save them. He got a little encouragement from Wallace before he set off to save the dolphins.

Under water, Bob got some much needed and unexpected help from Andy the shark and some of his shark friends resulting in outstanding rescue.


Chapter #5: A Journey Begins

In this last chapter, Bob was starting to feel overwhelmed with all his duties with Mary still away. He went to the Council for help in trying to get Mary back but they came up with another idea. They thought Bob should get an assistant to help him with his job. Earl suggest he asked a girl he had seen recently helping on the beach. The next day, Bob and Xena went to go meet the girl who was named Molly and offered her a job. It turned out she is Mary's niece. To see if Molly has what it takes for the job, Bob gave her a test to track Belle, a humpback whale. Surprisingly, Xena accompanied Molly on her task and after she succeeded, Molly was now Bob new assistant.


I like this book because it's a wonderful way for children to learn problem solving and creative thinking while reading a fun and colorful action and adventure story. It teaches children to never give up even if you're afraid. And also that you can work with others to get a problem taken care of. I like all the characters, Bob sometimes is a little anxious or nervous about handling a problem but no matter what, he does everything he can to help. Even if he does need a little bit of encouragement from time to time. His friends both human and animal are always looking out for Bob because they know that he take on any task that comes his way.

The author and illustrator did a amazing job with this story and I think this series would make a great read for children. I hope there will be more The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob books in the future.