Review of Blue Ocean Bob: Into the Lead

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.

Review of Into the Lead

This was a wonderful book that both my child and I truly enjoyed in more ways than one.

A lot of the times, it seems like once you get past Dr. Seuss books, authors forget the appeal of having a story told in rhyme. Brook Olbrys didn’t forget this, and as a result, Into the Lead, the third book in the Blue Ocean Bob series, was a pleasure to read and to listen to. The wording is simple enough that kids can easily read it to, though mine seemed to just think it was fun to listen to me and point out the words that rhymed.

The illustrations were perfect! Smoothly done with just the perfect amount of whimsy (as in the walrus wearing glasses or the turtle in tweed), the colors were soothing and each illustration added to the story in some way. Kevin Keele did a great job and created some scenes that would be fun as poster art for a child’s room.

Into the Lead isn’t perfect. If I could change anything, it would be diversifying at least one of the characters to make the book more appealing across cultures.  It would have been a simple, easy thing to do that wouldn’t have truly affected the story in any way, so it was kind of disappointing that it was another case of white people can solve anything in children’s books. However, Brook Olbrys delivered a nice, positive message in Into the Lead, as Blue Ocean Bob discovers that he can do more than he thought was possible if he can think it, see it, and believe it. Almost as important is the fact that Bob learns it’s okay to ask for help – to hit your limit and be able to acknowledge it.

Overall this was a very good book to read with my child. My kid absolutely loved it and that’s the most important thing. Also, though it’s clearly not the first book in the series, it stands alone enough that you or your child won’t be lost, wondering what’s going on.

Buy The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob: Into the Lead now on Amazon.

Title: Into the Lead | Series: The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob | Author: Brook Olbrys (site) | Illustrator: Kevin Keele (site) | Publisher: Children’s Success Unlimited | Pub. Date: 2016-4-19 | Pages: 56 | Genre: Children’s Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: 5 out of 5 | Date Read: 2016-4-25 | Source: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.