Books with simplified spelling patterns, which beginning readers can tackle independently with success. Please choose a level at which your learner can independently read 95% of words, or 90% of words if they’re reading to you, so you can help them with some words.
Decodable books we have at least samples of at Spelfabet:
- Beanstalk Books (US, also badged as Junior Learning) have a large range of fiction and nonfiction.
- Beginning Reading Instruction and Advanced Reading Instruction books (UK)
- Better Start Children’s readers (NZ, free online)
- Bob Books ipad apps, of which there are two, the first one is perfect for young beginners (US). Paper books are also available here.
- Booklife decodable readers (UK), available in Australia from Daintree Books and Modern Teaching Aids.
- Bug Club (UK)
- Dandelion Launchers (UK, for tinies, also available as iBooks which sound words out for you)
- Dandelion Readers (UK)
- Decodable Readers Australia (Aus)
- Dog on a log Let’s Go books and Chapter Books. A few are available as free downloads from Teachers Pay Teachers, and hard copy versions are available from Readings Books and many other mainstream suppliers.
- Dr Maggie’s Phonic Readers (US)
- Fitzroy Readers (Aus, also available with Audio CDs, and very affordably as iPad apps)
- Flyleaf books (UK)
- Free Reading decodable texts (US, free pdf downloads)
- Get Reading Right Synthetic Phonics Practice Books and Decodable Stories (UK)
- High Noon Books (US) decodable nonfiction books, and high-interest, low level chapter books and other resources for struggling readers. Suppliers outside the US are listed here.
- Hooked On Phonics (US) also available as iPhone and iPad apps.
- InitiaLit books (Aus)
- Little Learners Love Literacy books (Aus). There are now four series of books: the original Pip and Tim books, Tam and Pat (more diverse characters), Wiz Kids and Big World (nonfiction). An early video I made about the original set is here.
- No Nonsense Phonics (UK, nonfiction, also available on Amazon)
- Phonic Books Catch-Up Series (UK, suitable for ages 8 to 14+, the list below is in approximate order of difficulty, here are the Australian suppliers):
- Moon Dogs 1, Moon Dogs 2 and Moon Dogs 3
- Magic Belt and That Dog
- Alba and Totem
- Talisman 1 , Rescue and Island Adventure
- Titan’s Gauntlets and Talisman 2
- Amber Guardians
- Phonics stories for older learners (UK, suitable for older learners including adults)
- Phonics With Feeling (Aus, affordable download-and-print books, now available from this website).
- PLD curated packs of books for home: VC and CVC words or CVC, CCVC and CVCC words
- PLD curated packs of books for school: VC and CVC words or CVC, CCVC and CCVC words
- Pocketphonics Stories (UK, for iPad). Suitable for young children.
- Pocket Rockets (Aus), there are three sets, and one copy of each is now available here. I made a little video about the first two sets here (Before the Phase 4 books became available).
- Preschool University’s website has lots of download-and-print decodable books.
- Quackenworth Learn To Read Rhyming Stories and Learn to Read Vowel Stories (US, apps for iPad, Android and Kindle Fire).
- Read Write Inc Phonics Books and Non-Fiction (UK) Free sample eBooks are available here and here. The Read Write Inc books for older learners are called Fresh Start. All available in Australia from Oxford.
- Ready to Read Phonics Plus (NZ, part of the Better Start program)
- Reading Elephant (US, downloadable books)
- Rip Rap books (Aus, for upper primary and secondary students who want to be able to read something a little gritty that doesn’t look like it’s for younger kids).
- Rip Rap Club books (Aus, for ages 7-12)
- Simple Words Books (US).
- Songbirds Phonics. Free sample eBooks are available here (UK)
- Sound Out Chapter Books and Workbooks (US, suitable for older learners). Australian supplier is Silvereye, NZ supplier is NZ Council for Educational Research.
- Sounds Write Books (UK)
- Starfall computer and iPad based books, and printables (US)
- SPELD SA free, downloadable decodable books and associated worksheets (Aus). I use the books on my iPad, having saved them all into iBooks. They also have a set written with indigenous Australian characters and themes (from the APY lands).
- TAP teen and adult phonics library for iPad (Aus, has US and UK spelling and vocab options)
- The Drop-In Series (UK, suitable for older learners, also available to download and print yourself, and have support materials)
Other decodable books we are aware of but don’t have copies yet:
- ABeCeDarian books (US) which are available on the iPad here.
- Abeka Basic Phonics, Little Books and Animal Friends Books (US)
- Agility With Sound/Wordchain books (NZ)
- All About Reading (US)
- The Alphabet Series (US)
- Auburn University free decodable books (US)
- Blend Phonics Stories (US, free download)
- Collins Big Cat Phonics (UK), available in Australia from Lioncrest.
- The Core Knowledge Foundation has lots of free downloadable decodable texts (US)
- Dr Maggie’s Phonics Readers (US), also available from mainstream suppliers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble
- EPS Phonics Plus Readers (US)
- Fantastic Phonics (US, downloadable books)
- Floppy’s Phonics readers (UK) available in Australia from Oxford
- Fun Phonics (US), free downloads
- Funny Photo Phonics (UK)
- Garside Readers (US)
- Geodes (US)
- Go Phonics decodable storybooks (US)
- Goal! books (UK, suitable for older learners)
- Harcourt decodable books (US, free online)
- Headsprout (US, downloadable books for members)
- Half Pint Readers (US)
- Hero Academy (UK) available in Australia from Oxford
- Horizons 1998 Literature collections and textbooks (US)
- I See, I Spell, I Learn readers (US)
- I See Sam books (US, free download-and-print, also available as iPad app)
- Jelly and Bean decodable phonic reading books (UK)
- Jolly Phonics Readers (UK) also available in Australia from Modern Teaching Aids
- Kiwi Phonics (NZ)
- Ladybird Superhero Phonics (UK)
- Learning a-z (US)
- Letters and Sounds Phase 3 Readers (UK)
- Macadamia Readers (Aus)
- Mark’s Mad Phonics (UK, for ibooks, includes some free ebooks)
- Mature Reading Instruction books (UK, for adults, and a tutor guide is also available)
- Merrill Reading Program Student Readers Grades 1-3 (US)
- Modern Curriculum Press Phonics Readers (US)
- Open Court decodable books (US)
- Oxford Reading Tree Phonics series – 14 of these books are available as free eBooks
- Phonics for Pupils with Special Educational Needs (UK, free downloadable books)
- Phonics Play Comics (UK)
- Phonics Readers by Chris Morningforest and Rebecca Raymond (paper and e-books)
- Phonics Readers by Steck-Vaughn (US)
- Phonemic Awareness and Sequencing (PAS) Stories (US, part of the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program), available in Australia from ACER or ProEd.
- Power Readers (US)
- Preschool University Learn To Read Books (US, download-and-print)
- Primary Phonics and More Primary Phonics readers (US)
- Project X Code Suitable for middle or upper primary, free sample eBooks are available here (UK), available in Australia from Oxford
- Project X Alien Adventures (UK) available in Australia from Oxford
- Ragtag Rhymes (UK)
- Rapid Phonics (UK, suitable for older learners). The Australian supplier is here.
- Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper: Phonics. 5 of these books are available as free eBooks (UK)
- Reading a-z (US, downloadable books)
- Reading Genie (US, free downloadable books)
- Reading Mastery (US), Australian supplier is here
- Reading Mates (Aus)
- Reading Rods (US)
- Reading Teacher (US, downloadable E-books, some of which are free)
- Red Apple Readers – Park Stories (US, for iPad and iPhone). Version also on Android.
- Rigby Star Phonics (UK?)
- Saddleback books for teens (US), though I can’t find an Australian supplier.
- Sam the Elf (eBooks)
- Sound Discovery Readers and Storybooks – King Wizzit Series (UK)
- Spalding Readers 1 and Readers 2 (US), Australian supplier is here.
- Spell-Links reading library (US, downloadable)
- SPIRE Decodable Readers (US)
- SRA Phonics little books and poetry posters (US)
- Steps to Success decodable reader series (US)
- Sundance Phonics Readers (US)
- Supercharged Readers (US)
- Teachers Lounge/Think Central books for First Grade and Second Grade (US, free online)
- Touchphonics (US)
- Traditional Tales (UK) available in Australia from Oxford (mix a range of spellings from Letters and Sounds phases, so perhaps use for review)
- Wonder Books Nonfiction Phonics Series (US)
- The Wright Skills decodable books (US, some are now out of print)
The UK publisher Barrington Stoke also has books with enlarged font, simplified text and themes suitable for struggling older readers. Available in Australia via Allen and Unwin (on their website choose “Advanced Search” then Filter by Imprint – Barrington Stoke) or Seelect Educational Supplies.
The Dangerous Games books from Blake Education are written at about an eight-year-old decoding level but of interest to students aged 8-14, and they have other “Hi-Lo fiction” which can be a nice step in between between decodable books and mainstream books.
Decodable Big Books (note that books that are part of classroom programs have an interactive whiteboard version)
You may wnat to add ReadingTeacher.com to your list of resources.
Regards,
Francis
I most certainly will! Thanks for pointing out my oversight in not already listing it
Thanks for this list! I’ve been so frustrated by the lack of decodable books for my son.
We also like All About Reading and Now I’m Reading series. We’ve both been losing our reading motivation but I think this list will help us get started again!
One of my students is really enjoying the Dockside 4 app, thanks for the recommendations!
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What an incredible long list! Thanks for compiling all these resources!
You’re most welcome! I was researching this area for myself/my clients so it just made sense to make it available to others. Thanks for the nice feedback.
The long list is fantastic, but if I was trying to convince my AP to purchase a set to show that decodables are the way we need to go for our special ed students, is there a particular resource you would recommend? (NSW)
The books we use most with students aged 8 and over are the Phonic Books Catch-up books, which also have workbooks that are very useful for aides and parents to help kids work through, and they have activities targeting all of the Big Five. http://www.phonicbooks.co.uk/product-category/catch-up-readers. I have a cupboard full of them and we lend them out in sets to our clients. It’s rare to find an older child who doesn’t like at least some of the stories.
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Blend Phonics Lessons and Stories by Donald Potter
Here are 62 of the best decodable stories for kindergarten and first grade, or anybody who needs to learn to read from the ground up. This is the free edition. You can purchase my inexpensive paperback from Amazon or Barnes & Nobles. Each story includes a phonics lesson, decodable story, 4 comprehension questions, and spelling words.
http://donpotter.net/pdf/blend_phonics_stories.pdf
Donald, thankyou for this, I have added a link to this and the beginners’ program page. I’m just printing off your free books now and will bind them and show people, and when I get a chance also think about where else the link might usefully be added on my website. Thanks again and all the very best, Alison
This is great work Don! Thanks for this! You’re Amazing! Christine Calabrese
This is amazing! What a collection. Thank you very much Alison!
As an early years teacher, I could not agree with you more on the need and relevance for Decodable Readers. This is a wonderful list, thank you for putting it together!
What about SSP? Have you had an opportunity to review the Speach Sound Pictures program?
Found it in one of the schools that I taught.
Hi Kalpana, Thanks so much for the nice feedback, glad you’ve found my site useful. I have had a look at the Speech Sound Pictures program from Qld and it has many evidence-informed features, but I don’t promote it via this website, though I am not able to discuss why here. Sorry about that. All the best, Alison
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I am a management graduate and write for 12th pass students for various career options. I write for a good blog. I want to write about a lot of things out there, please guide me on how I can become a good blogger.
Sorry, Megha, how to be a good blogger is not the subject of this blog, just google it and you’ll find plenty of good advice. Alison
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Hi Alison,
My 7yr old son has just completed your holiday program and it has been the first time I have heard him sound out a word at home whilst reading despite trying to teach this all through prep! Thankyou soooo much, I am blown away by what you are doing. We were given all the wobbly blocks this year such as high frequency word lists, trying to get the prep students to write stories with adjectives which of course was fine for some students but very hard for others still grappling with reading and writing basics! I was feeling overwhelmed with knowing how to help my son and found out about your group from another parent, so happy I had the conversation! It us such a relief to hear someone make sense of learning to read! My son was looking at pictures of boats and saying ship, very useful, NOT!!
Hi Alison and staff,
Just wondering if you know anything about the Snappy Phonics decodable readers?
Hi Sophie, I think you mean Snappy Sounds, and I do have a few of their books, they were written by knowledgeable people so I’d expect them to work well. I just haven’t had time to go through them in detail. Must get onto it! Alison
Yes Snappy Sounds -oops! Thanks for your reply. Might try to get a sample before committing but they seemed good. Thanks!
This is an amazing list, thank you! Have you tried the Miss Moss series? I got the first book for my dyslexic daughter (who has completed through VCE syllables but is not quite ready for full chapter books yet). She is doing well with it and likes the cute pictures.
Thanks for the nice feedback, much appreciated. I haven’t tried the Miss Moss books, but I did buy other Usborne Phonics books, but was quite disappointed in them, they don’t seem to follow a systematic sequential phonics sequence, and contain quite a lot of difficult spellings in the early books. So I have relegated them from our phonics cupboard to the waiting room shelf. I’ll have a look for the Miss Moss books now. Thanks for the tip! Alison
Thank you for the response! Does anything like LeapFrog still exist? Or maybe an app version. Would kindle books work in a similar way? We are always looking for texts that will help.
Hi Alison have you had a chance to look at sunshine books? Particularly from set 4 onwards. I am unsure if they are truely decodable books as they are marketing themselves as.
I have bought some of the Sunshine books, and they are Ok though each set introduces a LOT of new information. I have Sets 1 to 6 in front of me now. The sequence is:
Set 1. s a t p i n m d
Set 2. g o b h e r f u l
Set 3. c k ck j qu v w x y z zz ff ll ss
Set 4. th, sh, ch, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo (as in book then food)
Set 5: ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er, then one book reviewing all these patterns
Set 6: /f/ and /w/ spelt ph and wh, spellings of /ae/ as in say, name, eight, they, vein, basin; spellings of /ee/ as in beach, these, chief, baby, donkey, be; spellings of /ie/ as in my, tie, time, find; spellings of /oe/ as in slow, home, toe, go; spellings of /oo/ as in grew, blue, June, brutal, and ?? could?? (weird, that’s not the same sound); spellings of /or/ as in saw, haunt, talk, four (but not for, caught, brought, wall, warm etc); spellings of /er/ as in bird, her, learn (but not curl or work); ou as in count (But not ow as in now, weirdly), and oy as in boy (but not oi as in coin, again weirdly).
So I think they have a bit of a way to go on their sequence, as it’s probably too slow then too fast then too slow again for the majority of kids. But they are at least starting to move away from horrible predictable texts! All the best, Alison
Are there any decodable books with the audio so that kids can practice by themselves at home?
Yes! Lots! All the Little Learners apps can do this: https://www.littlelearnersloveliteracy.com.au/blogs/decodable-books/apps. Also the Dandelion Launchers iBooks: https://www.phonicbooks.co.uk/advice-and-resources/interactive-ibooks/? The Fitzroy Readers apps also do this: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/fitzroy-readers-books-1-to-10/id542083050. The Decodable Readers Australia books also have a ‘read to me’ function: https://www.decodablereadersaustralia.com.au/. There are probably others but I hope that gives you the idea. Alison
This is a great list!! Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it!
Do you know the Decodable books with American accent audio?
Sorry, I don’t, but I daresay there are plenty of decodable book apps from the US. I can’t afford to buy every app. Try the ones recommended by Reading Simplified: https://readingsimplified.com/reading-apps-use?
Thank you! It’s so hard to find Decodable books with American accent! Most of them don’t even have the audios!
Thanks again!