Blue Ocean Bob Meets Greatest Challenge in "Into the Lead" by Brooks Olbrys

Courage

Creativity

Action

Decision

Then out from the deep, there emerged a great white.
He was swimming at them with great speed
and delight...

If  you're wondering why this Shark looks so happy, I highly recommend you get the final book in The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob's Trilogy! As Bob moves "Into the Lead!"

Leadership

The Adventures of
Blue Ocean Bob:
Into the Lead

By Brooks Olbrys

Illustrated by Kevin Keele

This has been a delightful three days as I've had the opportunity to read and then share about Brooks Olbrys' Trilogy. The quality of the entire book is exceptionally well done. Care has been taken to ensure the books are worthy of your child's training to move forward in his career decisions.

On a beautiful isle in the Sea of Kerchoo,
there lived a small boy with a big job to do.
Blue Ocean Bob worked for Mary Marine.
He protected the sea life and
kept the shore clean.
But on this fine morning,
just past eight o'clock,
when Bob was out tying his boat to the dock,
a startling jold knocked him
right off of his feet,
and Xena, his guardian, let out a "tweet!"
Then, riding a wave, Al the dolphin
arrived.
"There been a big quake,
and I barely survived!
Now oil is erupting like never before!
!!!

The use of sea creatures to match Bob's love of where he lived, what he enjoyed doing--swimming, watching the animals, etc.-- and then having the choice of a marine biologist as his chosen career was ingenious in implementation. Children love to interact with animals and having the sea creatures able to talk allowed the author to spread knowledge he has gained by many different mentors and teachers, perhaps through classes he attended himself or through their books. No matter what, we the readers have received the benefit of his experience! Kudos to the author...

But the books would not have been so well received if it wasn't for the Illustrator Kevin Keele. Honestly, especially on the Kindle Fire, it looks like we are watching a movie-quality production...and those same life-like pictures, though made into cartoon images, are provided in the full-page color pages. Kudos also to Kevin Keele!

Then he saw a huge whale
through the oil and the murk.
And when he looked closer,
he recognized Tom,
who agreed to assist (he
was steadfast and calm).
!!!

In this last book, Bob continues to be handling difficult jobs and Mary got involved because of the potential danger . First there was an earthquake and it cracked the floor allowing oil to erupt!

And with such a big job, they were happy to find that Tom the great whale was right there to help!

But as soon as they got that fixed, they learned that the quake caused a wave to beach a great white! Yikes! (He's the one smiling above)...What do you think happened?

But just as they turned to
head back down the shore
Bob spied the young girl
Earl had been there before.
He waved and he yelled,
"Hi, I'm Blue Ocean Bob!
Could I interest you
in a cool ocean job?"
~~~

Next, there was an emergency on Lizard Island and Mary Marine needed to go...Bob was selected to stand in for her, but then the work load got too much for one person... Enter... Molly... And suddenly Bob was placed in the position of training just like he had gone through. Was he ready?

I think personally my favorite thing about the books was the rhyming narrative. It simply amazed me that the author was able to put together three books, all in rhyme, and fitting it to each storyline. I didn't find any place where it was difficult to follow the rhythm or that the words didn't fit. Needless to say, the author either worked extra hard or had a gift for poetic rhyme. Either way, he's done a fantastic job in doing this...

One final comment is about Xena... At first I wondered about the choice of "guardian" of Bob and how she was always so very concerned about Bob's actions? Could this have been the author's way of inserting Bob's Mom into the story? An over-
protective Mom who was somewhat afraid of letting her son move on in his life? Let me know what you think about Xena! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Better if you start with book one, but I believe each could stand on their own if absolutely necessary...The Trilogy is highly recommended and well worth the "10" I've been calling the three books' value...


GABixlerReviews

Inspired by his young son, Brooks Olbrys created The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob storybook series to share timeless achievement principles with children. A graduate of Stanford University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts, and the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, Brooks is the founder of Children’s Success Unlimited and a managing director at investment bank Ion Partners. He lives with his wife and son in New York City.