Big feelings deserve a big hero
Big Head Bob is the mental health mascot: a kid with an oversized head who learns that what makes you stand out can be your greatest strength. Created by author David Bradley, Bob helps kids in 1,000+ classrooms talk about big feelings through books, videos, and live visits.
Meet the mental health mascot
Bob’s oversized head is a metaphor for physical and mental differences. We all have a big head of some kind. Bob was built to show kids that the thing that makes you stand out can also be your greatest strength.
Big Head Bob uses humor, storytelling, and cartoons to help kids navigate big feelings and make social emotional learning actually fun. From books and animated videos to live school visits and original music, Bob meets kids exactly where they are.
- Confidence
- Kindness
- Resilience
- Inclusion
- Mental health
- Creativity
Bridging cultures and communities through social emotional learning and mindful education.
Big Head Bob by the numbers
David Bradley
Author, illustrator, and founder of Big Head BobGrowing up, David doodled a goofy cartoon kid with an oversized head. That sketch stayed tucked away for years, until the birth of his nephew Joaquín sparked a question: what if this character could help kids feel less alone?
With family by his side, David self published the first Big Head Bob book and shared it on social media. When COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill in 2020, his message of turning weakness into strength resonated more than ever. A passion project grew into a global movement.
Today Bob has an official NASA collaboration, a YouTube Silver Play Button, 1,000+ classroom visits, and a fan community that spans the globe. David still draws, creates, and believes every kid deserves to see themselves as the hero of their own story.
From a doodle to 1,000 classrooms
How a kid’s sketch became a book, a school visit, a YouTube channel, and a NASA collaboration.
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Growing up
A kid with a very big head
David draws a character whose head fills the page. “As big as the page was, that’s how big his head was.” The doodle follows him through college and into his first career.
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2020
A book for Joaquín
Three months into the pandemic, David’s nephew is born. He has never written a book, but he writes one for Joaquín about a boy who turns his weakness into strength. Big Head Bob officially becomes a brand.
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January 2021
Book one, and an award
After nine months of work, The Adventures of Big Head Bob: Transform Your Weakness Into Strength is published. It wins the Crystal Bookmark Award at the Las Vegas Book Festival.
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2021
The first school visit
A teacher sees the book online and asks David to visit. The school tweets “Thank you Big Head Bob for coming to our school,” three more schools ask, and it snowballs from there.
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2022 to 2023
The Bob Squad grows
Long Neck Lisa arrives in book two, a story about friendship, and book three introduces the Bob Squad, a story about inclusion. The books are translated into seven languages and the YouTube channel passes 100 videos.
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Fall 2024
Bob goes to space with NASA
An official licensed collaboration with NASA launches the Astronaut Bob plush series, bringing space and STEM storytelling into Bob’s world.
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February 2025
Surviving College
An anonymous mental health blog written with college interns becomes Surviving College: Navigating Education and Mental Health, launched at Stanford University that spring. Bob now grows with the reader.
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Today
1,000+ classrooms and counting
More than 270,000 subscribers, 10 million views, a YouTube Silver Play Button, 15 books in 7 languages, and school visits across the country. Every one of them still starts with a kid who feels a little less alone.
Four ways kids meet Bob
Books
Fifteen illustrated titles in seven languages that tackle confidence, friendship, inclusion, and big feelings. Signed copies available.
Shop books
YouTube
270K+ subscribers watch sing alongs, read alouds, breathing exercises, and animated stories that make emotional learning fun.
Watch the channel
School visits
Live and virtual visits to schools, libraries, camps, and events. David brings Bob straight to the kids who need him most.
Book a visit
Games and merch
Plush, stickers, hoodies, online games, and NASA collectibles that let kids carry Bob’s message anywhere.
Visit the shopTag @BigHeadBob and join the community
Fans, families, and classrooms from Las Vegas to Minnesota to Texas. Share your Bob and we might feature you.
The mental health mascot, in the news
Frequently asked questions
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Ready to be part of something bigger?
Books, videos, school visits, and a community that believes every kid deserves to feel like a hero.