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Winter, Jonah

Welcome to Bobville: City of Bobs

40 pp. | Random/Schwartz & Wade | September, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-593-12272-3 $17.99 | Library ISBN 978-0-593-12273-0 $20.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-593-12774-7 $10.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bob Staake. An independent thinker challenges the norm in Winter's zany--and relevant--story. Things can get confusing in the city of Bobville, where everyone is named Bob and "everyone looks exactly the same." How do you know who you are if everybody is identical? The answer is, of course, "You're Bob! Just like everybody else!" But things can also get dull, because all the Bobs (comical figures each with uniformly floppy facial features and spindly limbs attached to black-and-gray-striped spherical bodies) get up at the same time, eat the same food, enjoy the same hobbies, go to the same movies, listen to the same music, and read the same books. In fact, everyone in Bobville even thinks the same thoughts ("If one Bob was thinking, I'd rather be fishing, you could bet your life that all the other Bobs were thinking that, too"), and they are highly suspicious of anyone not named Bob. When a freethinking Bob makes the choice to gel his hair, don colorful clothing, and declare himself "Bruce," he is maligned and booted out of Bobville. The departure is marked by a shift in the color palette as the grays and muted pastels are replaced by bright and vibrant hues. Outside the town limits, Bruce is welcomed to the "big, exciting world" and by a quirky and dynamic cast of characters bursting with unexpected colors and geometric shapes. A reminder of the importance of independent thinking and the joy of being different wrapped in a silly yet thought-provoking tale.
Reviewer: Emmie Stuart | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

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