Meet the Bobs and Tweets
Series: Bobs and Tweets #1
Written by Pepper Springfield
Illustrated by Kristy Caldwell
Scholastic Inc.  6/28/2016
978-0-545-87072-6
74 pages   Ages 4—8

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“On Bonefish Street live two very different families . . .

“. . . the Bobs, who are messy, and the Tweets, who are neat. How can these two strange families get along in the same neighborhood? And are all the Tweets really neat and all the Bobs slobs? This is the first book in a brand-new series of full-color, illustrated high-interest rhyming stories that’s just right for reluctant readers. It’s Dr. Seuss meets Captain Underpants wrapped into one zany adventure. Get ready to read…and laugh!” [PUBLISHER WEBSITE]

“The Bobs, they are slobs. The Tweets, they are neat.
These two families move to Bonefish Street.
Will everything go terribly wrong?
Or can they learn to just get along?

“Find out in this exciting first Bobs and Tweets adventure with full-color illustrations on every page!” [ BACK COVER]

Review
Meet the Bobs, the “Mob of Bobs.” This family of seven are slobs (well, the first six are slobs). “Little Bob Seven” is not a slop; he is the opposite of slob. The neighbors are not happy with the slobby Bobs. The Bobs call Mo. “Hey, Mo! We hear that you will know / Where we, who are a mob of Bobs, / Can find a house near other slobs.” Off to 19 Bonefish Street the Bobs move.

Meet the Tweets, the Tweets so neat. This family of seven are neat freaks (well, the first six are freaky neat). “Little Tweet Seven” is not neat; she is the opposite of neat. The Tweets want a home “far, far away from any slobs.” The Tweets call Mo. “Mo! Is it true that you will know / Where we, who love to be so neat, / Can find a home just right for Tweets?” Off to 20 Bonefish Street the Tweets move.
Have you figured it out? This cannot be true, what Mo did with the Bobs and Tweets. But she did, for reason we don’t quite yet know. Mo moved the Bobs and the Tweets across the street from each other. The families meet one day at the neighborhood pool. The Tweets synchronize swim. The Bobs spin around on, and behind, a jet ski.

Here is where the story takes a twist. One Bob and one Tweet, both number seven, are not a slob or neat (respectively). The two—one a boy and one a girl; one with a dog and one with a cat—find common ground and become friends. Neat Dean Bob and slob Lou Tweet force the lifeguard into action and clean up the pool, now big mess of Bobs and Tweets. Then their respective families force them apart as the groups head back to 19 and 20 Bonefish Street.
I really like Meet the Bobs and Tweets. I like the texture of their story. Opposites are everywhere, if only one looks. Bone—Fish Street is one. The slobby Tweet has a pet cat (notoriously clean freaks). The neat Bob has a pet dog . . . and on it continues. Kids will love finding these opposites and figuring out what makes them work.

Meet the Bobs and Tweets is humorous, fun to read. Springfield’s good, lyrically jaunty writing (though occasionally hitting a rut) nicely introduces young readers to a new chapter book series that is also perfect for reluctant readers. I am happy to look past the ruts in Springfield’s poetic road, which takes away no enjoyment from the story or the theme of opposites getting along in an always conflcting world. Maybe Mo does know what she did.
Caldwell’s cartoon-like illustrations are a joy to behold. The art definitely and happily lifts the text into the stratosphere—or at least up a notch or two. I’ve heard Meet the Bobs and Tweets referenced to Dr. Seuss. Maybe a little, but why? Let Dr. Seuss be Dr. Seuss. Springfield and Caldwell will find the unique voices each now have but do not fully express. I prefer those voices. The Bobs and Tweets prefer those voices. Yes, only time will tell, but I am betting Springfield and Caldwell’s voices will become stronger and increasingly unique.

Until then, and after, enjoy Meet the Bobs and Tweets, fourteen people and two critters full of opposite agendas, yet similar spirits of love, life, cooperation, and commitment to family.

Next Up: Bobs and Tweets: Perfecto Pet Show (Check back here Summer 2017.)

Text from Meet the Bobs and Tweets written by Pepper Springfield, illustrated by Kristy Caldwell. Copyright © 2016 Egg in the Hole Productions, LLC. Published by Scholastic Inc. , New York, NY.

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Text from Meet the Bobs and Tweets written by Pepper Springfield, illustrated by Kristy Caldwell. Copyright © 2016 Egg in the Hole Productions, LLC. Published by Scholastic Inc.

Copyright © 2016 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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Meet the Bobs and Tweets
Series: Bobs and Tweets #1
Written by Pepper Springfield
Illustrated by Kristy Caldwell
Scholastic Inc. 6/28/2016
9780545870726