Book Review | Bobby and Bubba’s Small Adventures by Anthony Coombs
{This book was gifted by Literally PR in exchange for an honest review. This article contains an affiliate link.}
Hello Readers,
I was very kindly gifted a couple of copies of Anthony Coombs’ short story collection, Bobby and Bubba’s Small Adventures by the lovely people at Literally PR and so I’m here to share not only my thoughts on the book but also that of a couple of my family members. But before I get into the review, let me tell you a little about the book and the author from the PR page:
“Adorable, gorgeous, amazing” - just three words regularly used by friends and strangers, wherever Britsh Bulldog brothers - Bobby and Bubba - go! Dividing their time between the two {London} and the country {Warwickshire}, the dynamic duo have already starred on television shows, in magazines, and naturally {have you see those faces?} have their own growing fanbase on social media. Now, they’re the stars of a beautifully illustrated short story book to be enjoyed by the whole family, written by former MP, business man and philanthropist, Anthony Coombs.
Although he has written extensively on political and economic topics, this is Anthony Coombs’ first foray into books. He was encouraged to so by Bobby and Bubba themselves. Whilst relying on the “daddy” Alexander for their everyday needs, they insisted that “grandpa” Anthony use his dwindling literary skills to share with the world their “irresistible charm” and the adventures it gets them into. In any spare time Anthony gets from dg walking, he combines a career as chairman of a FTSE finance company with building houses and overseeing a charitable trust which supports children and young people with physical and mental disability challenges. Following his earlier incarnation as a Member of Parliament, Anthony also likes to write about current affairs.”
The book itself is just over 60 pages and contains 15 short stories which are about 1 and a half to 2 pages each and every one includes some wonderful illustrations by Adam Share ~ these really help bring out the character of both dogs even more, giving them almost human like expressions and that characteristic stuck out tongue that most British Bulldogs have!
The stories themselves are fun, sweet and many carry a moral with them on how to be kind to those around us, especially if we are in a position of privilege. This book is classed as a children’s book but it’s intended to be read as a family, encouraging parents to make time to read the book with their children and hopefully helping them to develop a love of reading, if they don’t already.
That being said, both myself and the couple of family members who have also read the book, did feel that it would be better suited for older children ~ maybe around 10/11 years old. This is mainly due to the use of some words and world events that younger children maybe won’t be familiar with or understand fully. My nephew read the book to his eldest daughter, who is about 8 years old, and had to keep stopping to explain what certain things meant and while his daughter was then learning things, this took them out of the story and eventually my great-niece lost a bit of interest and my nephew carried on reading the book by himself. Both my nephew and his wife are readers and often read to their children and they have passed on that love of books; so it was sad to hear that she didn’t enjoy this one as much as I hoped. I think if she were older, it may have been different and she would have understood it more and enjoyed it a lot more than she did.
“As animals grow up, especially in the doggie world where Bobby and Bubba live, they change. From tiny puppies you could hold in your hand, Bobby and Bubba are now nearly thirty kilograms each of solid muscle with an attitude to match.”
As an adult reading this short story collection, I enjoyed it. I loved seeing what Booby and Bubba got up to with each turn of the page and Coombs’ writing really highlighted their different personalities. The sibling dynamic was portrayed well between the dogs and felt very realistic and almost very humanlike ~ the naughtier one gets the quieter one in trouble, similar to how older children like to get their younger siblings in trouble.
As with most short story collections I’ve read, I did prefer some of them more than others. I loved the ones that were more focused on the daily life of the dogs, like what they got up at the park or playing at home and I loved when the dogs had more of a voice, when they were speaking to each other. But there were some that felt a little more human focused, which I completely understand as this added a little variety to the collection, and while those stories were good and the moral and teachable moments in them were very relevant, personally they just weren't my favourites.
I think this was mainly because they would mention events I’d lived through {or still living through}, like the pandemic or Brexit, and as someone who reads to escape real life, like most readers, I sometimes find it a little jarring when real-world events at mentioned in works of Fiction. These things also gave me a bit of a political feel, which is completely understandable since Coombs was a Member of Parliament but again this kind of pulled my focus a little out of Bobby and Bubba’s world that Coombs’ had created and that I really enjoyed being a part of while reading each story.
So overall, Bobby and Bubba’s Small Adventures was a fun read and I enjoyed spending time with these boys and seeing them cause chaos in the lives of their humans. I’ll be completely honest, I was totally reading this collection purely for the Bobby and Bubba content because those boys just had my heart and deserve all the treats and belly rubs they can get!
A big thank you to the lovely people at Literally PR for gifting me a couple of copies of this book for myself and my family.
If you’d like to see what else Bobby and Bubba get up to, you find them on Instagram: @bobbyandbubba
Stay Safe. Read a Book.
L x
