Bobby Lynn Maslen, author of the beginning readers Bob Books, died on August 16. She was 87 and had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade.
In 1968, she was hired as a teacher, where, her family said, her "passion for learning led her to start writing beginning readers with her young students. She soon discovered that using her books, students loved to learn to read. She wanted to share this love of learning with students all over the world, and Bob Books were born."
Upon retiring from teaching, she and her husband, John Maslen, started a book business, with Bobby writing and John illustrating. "The popularity of Bob Books spread and soon they partnered with Scholastic, who has been their publisher for 25 years."
There are more than 16 million copies of Bob Books in print, which are sold around the world, as well as Bob Books apps, reading kits, games, flashcards, workbooks, and dolls.