Press & media

Why a mentalist wrote five children’s books

Jesper K. Lassen is a Danish mentalist who wrote and illustrated Bob & Otto, five picture books that each tell two stories. Read from the front, a book is Bob’s side of an everyday misunderstanding. Turn it over, and the same words, read in reverse line order, bring his friend Otto’s side into focus.

Request an interview Press kit (PDF, 2.0 MB)

jesper@danishmentalist.com · +1 650-502-5501
Based in Copenhagen · remote interviews anywhere · in-person appearances in the US by arrangement · in English or Danish

Tap to turn the book over: Goodnight, Otto becomes Goodnight, Bob.

How the books work

Each book is printed once and read twice. Bob’s line is on every left-hand page and Otto’s on every right-hand page, so both boys’ voices are present in both readings. Read from the front cover, it is Bob’s story. Turn the whole book over and read from the back, and it is Otto’s.

Not a word or punctuation mark changes. Only the order of the lines reverses, and with it what they mean. A sparrow sits on every one of Otto’s pages, so a child who can’t read yet always knows whose side they’re on.

Goodnight, Otto, spread 4: “I thought that was your answer.” and “I stayed on my half.” Goodnight, Otto, spread 5: “All the way down the middle—” and “One roof over the two of us.”

Read from the front

  1. I thought that was your answer.
  2. I stayed on my half.
  3. All the way down the middle—
  4. One roof over the two of us.

Turn it over

  1. One roof over the two of us.
  2. All the way down the middle—
  3. I stayed on my half.
  4. I thought that was your answer.

Two facing spreads from Goodnight, Otto. The unfinished line All the way down the middle— is finished by a different line in each direction: forward, by the roof the boys share; turned over, by the half Otto stayed on. More on the form and the psychology behind it →

Interview ideas

  1. 1

    Why a mentalist became a children’s author

    A mentalist’s work depends on what people notice and what they miss. Jesper talks about turning that attention toward children aged four to eight, and why the books hand a child the other side instead of telling them how to feel.

  2. 2

    How perspective changes what we understand

    One sentence, heard halfway, means something else. Using moments from the books (an overheard sentence, a laugh, a silence in a tent), a conversation about how children and adults fill in what they didn’t hear, and the one question that could have changed it.

  3. 3

    A live demonstration, then a conversation

    Jesper reads a book from the front cover, turns it over on air and reads the same pages back as the other boy. Then a conversation about misunderstandings between children: where they start, and how grown-ups can talk about them. Works on camera, on radio and on a podcast.

Based in Copenhagen · remote interviews anywhere · in-person appearances in the US by arrangement · in English or Danish. Request an interview →

About Jesper K. Lassen

Jesper K. Lassen holding up an open hand, a small triangle drawn on his palm, against a dark blue background
Jesper K. Lassen, author and illustrator of the Bob & Otto books. Courtesy of Jesper K. Lassen. Download JPG · 1536 × 1097 px

Short bio (54 words)

Jesper K. Lassen is a Danish mentalist, author and illustrator based in Copenhagen. He has given more than 1,000 live performances and has his own documentary series on DR, Denmark’s national broadcaster. He wrote and illustrated Bob & Otto, a series of five two-way picture books, and founded VEN Method, a social-emotional learning company.

Longer bio

Jesper K. Lassen has been on stage since he was seven. As a mentalist he writes and performs his own work, has given more than 1,000 live performances and has his own documentary series on DR, Denmark’s national broadcaster. In his words, his working life “has been about what one person notices and another one misses.”

He wrote and illustrated all five Bob & Otto books, published in 2026 by VEN Method in English and, as Bob y Otto, in Spanish.

He grew up in Denmark, where his school taught social and emotional skills from an early age. He founded VEN Method (“ven” is Danish for “friend”), a social-emotional learning company whose Connection Protocol is published free for teachers at venmethod.com. He lives in Copenhagen.

About VEN Method

VEN Method is a social-emotional learning company that builds connection in classrooms and at home. It publishes the Bob & Otto picture books and The Connection Protocol, a classroom practice published free in full at venmethod.com. “Ven” is Danish for “friend.” VEN Method is registered in the United States and works with partners in Texas.

What reviewers have said

…a thought-provoking, discussion-inducing series that kids and adults alike are sure to enjoy.

Deb Preston, children’s book review of the Bob & Otto series, 24 September 2026
Video review: Michelle Marcotte, Great Books for Kids Reviewed by Michelle Marcotte (YouTube), 3 October 2026. Watch on YouTube ↗

Any sponsored or paid coverage listed on this page will be clearly labeled as sponsored.

The five books

Series
Bob & Otto, five books (Spanish editions: Bob y Otto)
Author and illustrator
Jesper K. Lassen
Publisher
VEN Method, Texas, USA
Ages
4–8. A read-aloud from about four; early readers can read them alone
Published
10 September 2026
Paperback
$8.99 · 8.5 × 8.5 in · full color · 32–34 pages · in English and Spanish · direct from bobandotto.com/shop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Bookshop.org and bookshops worldwide; trade orders through Ingram
Kindle
$2.99, in English and Spanish
Length
87 to 132 words per book, one short line per page
TitleThe misunderstandingPagesISBN (paperback)Spanish edition
Book 1Half a SentenceBob hears half a sentence through a fence, and runs off with it.34979-8-9979707-0-3Media frasepaperback 979-8-9979707-5-8 · Kindle
Book 2The LaughBob falls in a puddle and Otto laughs. But who is he laughing at?32979-8-9979707-1-0La risapaperback 979-8-9979707-6-5 · Kindle
Book 3Room for ThreeA new girl at school. Bob counts two, and walks away.32979-8-9979707-2-7Sitio para trespaperback 979-8-9979707-7-2 · Kindle
Book 4Goodnight, OttoOther cover: Goodnight, BobTwo boys in a tent, and a silence each of them reads differently.34979-8-9979707-3-4Buenas noches, Ottopaperback 979-8-9979707-8-9 · Kindle
Book 5In Otto’s ShoesOther cover: In Bob’s ShoesOtto’s new shoes hurt, and Bob can’t tell why. So they swap.34979-8-9979707-4-1En los zapatos de Ottopaperback 979-8-9979707-9-6 · Kindle

Store links for every edition: all five books · stores by country · direct from the publisher · trade, school and bulk orders: orders.

Downloads

Author photo

Jesper K. Lassen, author and illustrator of the Bob & Otto books.
Jesper K. LassenDownload JPG · 1536 × 1097 px · Courtesy of Jesper K. Lassen.

Book covers

Front cover of Half a Sentence (Bob & Otto, Book 1), Bob’s side, by Jesper K. Lassen.
Half a Sentence · Book 1Front · Back · JPG 2400 px
Front cover of The Laugh (Bob & Otto, Book 2), Bob’s side, by Jesper K. Lassen.
The Laugh · Book 2Front · Back · JPG 2400 px
Front cover of Room for Three (Bob & Otto, Book 3), Bob’s side, by Jesper K. Lassen.
Room for Three · Book 3Front · Back · JPG 2400 px
Front cover of Goodnight, Otto (Bob & Otto, Book 4), Bob’s side, by Jesper K. Lassen.
Goodnight, Otto · Book 4Front · Back (Goodnight, Bob) · JPG 2400 px
Front cover of In Otto’s Shoes (Bob & Otto, Book 5), Bob’s side, by Jesper K. Lassen.
In Otto’s Shoes · Book 5Front · Back (In Bob’s Shoes) · JPG 2400 px

Sample spreads

A spread from Half a Sentence (Bob & Otto, Book 1). Bob’s line is on the left page, Otto’s on the right: “A fence has gaps.” / “A sentence has two halves.”
Half a Sentence, spread 4Download JPG · 3600 × 1800 px
A spread from The Laugh (Bob & Otto, Book 2). Bob’s line is on the left page, Otto’s on the right: “You sat down in the puddle beside me.” / “Not at you. At me.”
The Laugh, spread 5Download JPG · 3600 × 1800 px
A spread from Room for Three (Bob & Otto, Book 3). Bob’s line is on the left page, Otto’s on the right: “Two ends. No room in the middle.” / “The middle was always for you.”
Room for Three, spread 5Download JPG · 3600 × 1800 px
A spread from Goodnight, Otto (Bob & Otto, Book 4). Bob’s line is on the left page, Otto’s on the right: “I thought that was your answer.” / “I stayed on my half.”
Goodnight, Otto, spread 4Download JPG · 3600 × 1800 px
A spread from Goodnight, Otto (Bob & Otto, Book 4). Bob’s line is on the left page, Otto’s on the right: “All the way down the middle—” / “One roof over the two of us.”
Goodnight, Otto, spread 5Download JPG · 3600 × 1800 px
A spread from In Otto’s Shoes (Bob & Otto, Book 5). Bob’s line is on the left page, Otto’s on the right: “Try walking in mine.” / “Here. Take mine.”
In Otto’s Shoes, spread 6Download JPG · 3600 × 1800 px

Characters and logo

Bob, from the Bob & Otto books
BobPNG, transparent
Otto, from the Bob & Otto books
OttoPNG, transparent
Anna (in Room for Three), from the Bob & Otto books
Anna (in Room for Three)PNG, transparent
The sparrow, on every one of Otto’s pages, from the Bob & Otto books
The sparrow, on every one of Otto’s pagesPNG, transparent
VEN Method logo
VEN Method logoSVG · PNG · dark · white

Credit: Art © 2026 VEN Method. Illustration: Jesper K. Lassen. Author photo: Courtesy of Jesper K. Lassen. These images and texts may be used for editorial coverage of the Bob & Otto books and their author. Please credit as shown, and don’t crop the covers or alter the artwork. Captions for every image are in the ZIP file.

Press release

Danish mentalist Jesper K. Lassen publishes Bob & Otto, five picture books that tell two stories in oneRead the release

Read from the front, each book is one friend’s side of an everyday misunderstanding. Turn it over, and the same words, read in reverse line order, tell the other friend’s side.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, October 2026 — Jesper K. Lassen, a Danish mentalist with more than 1,000 live performances and his own documentary series on DR, Denmark’s national broadcaster, has written and illustrated Bob & Otto, a series of five picture books for children aged four to eight, published by VEN Method.

Each book is printed once and read twice. Read from the front cover, it is Bob’s side of a small misunderstanding between two best friends. Turn the book over and read the same pages from the back, and it is Otto’s side. Not a word or punctuation mark changes; only the order of the lines reverses. Both boys speak on every spread, Bob on the left-hand page and Otto on the right, so both voices are present in both readings. A sparrow sits on every one of Otto’s pages, so a child who can’t read yet always knows whose side they are on.

“The child isn’t told to see the other side. They hold it,” Lassen told children’s book reviewer Deb Preston in a September interview. “Letting them choose a starting cover is already practicing perspective.”

The five misunderstandings are ones children meet every week: a sentence overheard through a fence (Half a Sentence), a laugh that might be at you (The Laugh), a best friend with someone new (Room for Three), a silence in a tent at night (Goodnight, Otto) and a hurt you can’t see from the outside (In Otto’s Shoes). Neither boy is the villain. Each book uses fewer than 135 words.

The text of each book is a reverso, or reverse poem, a form introduced by the poet Marilyn Singer, in which the same lines read in reverse order say something different. Bob & Otto writes it as a duet between two characters and builds the reversal into the book itself.

Of the first book he wrote, Half a Sentence, Lassen said: “That pattern is painfully familiar. I can see myself in it. Childhood misunderstandings, and the adult ones too, where we react to a fragment and miss the rest.”

In her review, Preston called the books “a thought-provoking, discussion-inducing series that kids and adults alike are sure to enjoy.” Michelle Marcotte reviewed the series on her YouTube channel, Great Books for Kids Reviewed by Michelle Marcotte.

The books are available in paperback ($8.99) in English and, as Bob y Otto, in Spanish: direct from bobandotto.com, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and Bookshop.org, and from bookshops worldwide through Ingram, by ISBN. Both languages are also on Kindle ($2.99). Lassen is available for remote interviews and, by arrangement, for in-person appearances in the United States.

About Jesper K. Lassen

Jesper K. Lassen is a Danish mentalist, author and illustrator based in Copenhagen. He has given more than 1,000 live performances and has his own documentary series on DR, Denmark’s national broadcaster. He wrote and illustrated Bob & Otto, a series of five two-way picture books, and founded VEN Method, a social-emotional learning company.

About VEN Method

VEN Method is a social-emotional learning company that builds connection in classrooms and at home. It publishes the Bob & Otto picture books and The Connection Protocol, a classroom practice published free in full at venmethod.com. “Ven” is Danish for “friend.” VEN Method is registered in the United States and works with partners in Texas.

Media contact

Jesper K. Lassen · jesper@danishmentalist.com · +1 650-502-5501 · bobandotto.com/press

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Request an interview

For interviews, guest appearances, review copies and images, write or call Jesper directly.

Email jesper@danishmentalist.com Call +1 650-502-5501

Based in Copenhagen · remote interviews anywhere · in-person appearances in the US by arrangement · in English or Danish.

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