Book Nook: Bobby the Bear and His Missing Dinner

 Life comes with many valuable lessons at all ages. In Ryan O'Connor's debut book, "Bobby the Bear and His Missing Dinner," readers will be taken on an adventure that follows Bobby the Bear and his friends Fred the Fox, Tanya the Tiger, Rachel the Rabbit and Peter the Panther, as they try to find

Bobby's dinner. With a teaching background, O’Connor’s new tale will educate children on valuable life lessons through Bobby and his fellow furry friends.

 

Throughout the book, readers will witness the beauty of friendship and how important it is to help a friend who is in need. O’Connor’s story illustrates the power of honesty and friendship while Bobby looks for his missing dinner. The quest takes an unexpected twist, and Bobby helps a friend learn the importance of not stealing and how forgiveness is crucial within a friendship. This is the first book out of the ‘Bobby the Bear’ series. Readers can follow along on more adventures with the second book, “Merry Christmas, Bobby the Bear!”

I had a chance to interview the author to learn more.

1. Why did you decide to write this book?

I wrote this book for my nieces and nephews. I live in Shanghai, China, and my nieces and nephews are spread out in the United States, so I don't get to see them as much as I would like. I wanted to do something where I could teach them some life lessons, like I would if I was living back home. I thought this was an interesting and entertaining way to accomplish this goal.

I originally wrote this story, along with a second Bobby the Bear book, just for them as a Christmas gift. After a few people read the stories, though, they encouraged me to see if the stories were good enough for publication. 

2. How can kids' books teach important lessons?

I believe children are connected to characters they see in the stories they read. If a child finds a connection with any character in a book, they will mimic that character and listen to him or her. So, if there is a character that teaches important lessons, children will listen to him and her and reinforce the important lessons parents are trying to instill in their children on a daily basis.

3. What is your favorite way to encourage reading in younger kids?

I think the two most effective ways to get children interested in reading are great illustrations followed by likeable characters. Children, from my experience, are drawn to illustrations first. If they like what they see, then I can use that opportunity to introduce some of the characters in the story. That is what I tried to accomplish with my first two Bobby the Bear books. I wanted to have interesting and appealing illustrations and write characters that children can like and gravitate towards. Once a child in drawn to a character, he or she is more likely to continue to read that book and try to find other books with similar characters or story lines.