Decodable books provide the reading practice for phonics lessons. Please choose books which follow the teaching sequence your learner is studying, and are at the point they have reached in that sequence, so that the words in them are mostly made up of sound-spelling relationships your learner has been taught. Your learner should be able to independently read 95% of words, or 90% of words if they’re reading to you, so you can help them with harder words.
Decodable books we have at least some copies of at Spelfabet:
- BRI and ARI books (US, also available free as e-books here or in colour here, and printable 1972 government-funded public domain versions of the first 52 I See Sam books are available here). There seem to be related additional resources on the Reading Teacher website.
- Better Start Children’s readers (NZ, free online).
- Beyond Decodables (US, free online/printable books written for Boston public schools).
- Bob Books (US).
- Bug Club (UK), Australian supplier is here.
- Collins Big Cat Phonics (UK), four different sets of books, available in Australia from Lioncrest.
- The Core Knowledge Foundation has lots of free downloadable decodable texts (US)
- Dandelion Launchers (UK, for age 4-7)
- Dandelion Readers (UK)
- Dandelion World (UK, nonfiction)
- Decodable Readers Australia (Aus, fiction and nonfiction, also available as apps and online)
- Dog on a Log Let’s Go books and Chapter Books, including a few free downloads here.
- Fitzroy Readers (Aus, also available as apps)
- Flyleaf books (UK), also available free online here.
- Free Reading decodable texts (US, free pdf downloads)
- Get Reading Right Synthetic Phonics Practice Books and Decodable Stories (Aus)
- Half Pint Readers (US, free online e-books)
- Hooked On Phonics (US) also available as apps.
- InitiaLit books (Aus)
- Jolly Phonics Readers (UK) also available in Australia from Modern Teaching Aids
- Junior Learning (US with Australian website, fiction and nonfiction). Also badged as Beanstalk Books.
- Little Learners Love Literacy books (Aus). There are now five series: the original Pip and Tim books (also available as apps); Tam and Pat (like Pip and Tim, but adjusted to better suit kids in the Kimberley); Wiz Kids; Big World (nonfiction); and Fox Kid graphic novel-style chapter books for catch-up learners.
- Little Sprouts (US)
- Mature Reading Instruction (UK, for adults, and a tutor guide is also available)
- Mog and Gom (UK?)
- No Nonsense Phonics (UK, also has online library available on 12 month subscription)
- Phonic Books Catch-Up Series (UK, suitable for ages 8 to 14+, the list below is in approximate order of difficulty, and they also have many free, downloadable resources):
- Moon Dogs series (six sets of books, starting at VC and CVC level)
- Magic Belt, That Dog and Mel on Mars
- Alba, Totem and Pet Sitters
- Talisman 1 , Rescue, Island Adventure and Dragon Eggs
- Titan’s Gauntlets, Talisman 2 and Hidden in Paris
- Amber Guardians
- Phonics & Stuff (US, free online books)
- Phonics for Pupils with Special Educational Needs (UK, suitable)
- Phonics stories for older learners (UK book of A4 stories, suitable for older learners including adults)
- Phonics With Feeling (Aus, download-and-print books, available from this website).
- PLD (Aus)
- Pocketphonics Stories (UK, apps suitable for young children).
- Pocket Rockets (Aus, in book size, boxes of multiple copies of leaflet size, and a Teacher/Parent Pack containing one of each leaflet size book and some extras).
- Power Readers (US)
- Preschool University (US) has download-and-print decodable books.
- Quackenworth has some phonics stories as apps.
- Rapid Phonics (UK, suitable for catch-up learners)
- Read Write Inc (UK), available in Australia from Oxford.
- Read Write Inc Fresh Start for older learners. Available in Australia from Oxford.
- Reading Doctor (free online books of decodable sentences, with pictures on the following page).
- Reading Elephant (US, downloadable books)
- Reading Mates (Aus)
- Rip Rap books (Aus, chapter books for upper primary and secondary students).
- Rip Rap Club books (Aus, chapter books for ages 7-12)
- Simple Words Books (US).
- Songbirds Phonics. Free sample eBooks are available here (UK)
- Sound Out Chapter Books (US, suitable for older learners. A free sample app can be upgraded to a set of 18 books).
- Sound Waves books (Aus, include support, core and extended books for differentiation)
- Sounds Write (UK) including some free download-and-print books.
- Smart Kids Letters and Sounds (Aus?)
- Starfall has computer and iPad based phonics books.
- SPELD SA has free, download-and-print decodable books, following the Jolly Phonics sequence or the Sounds Write sequence, with indigenous Australian themes and characters. Printed books are also available (Aus).
- Sunshine Books (Aus)
- Supercharged Readers (US)
- 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, and have support materials)
- The University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) has 130 pages of free download-print-and-illustrate A4 page texts for Foundation, Year 1 and Yr 2, in a toolbox of lots other great, free things.
- Whole Phonics (US)
Other decodable books we are aware of but don’t have copies yet:
- Agility With Sound/Wordchain books (NZ)
- All About Reading (US)
- The Alphabet Series (US)
- Blend Phonics Stories (US, free download)
- Booklife decodable readers (UK)
- Decoder Kids Phonics (US)
- Dr Maggie’s Phonics Readers (US).
- Eplatform Decodable Readers
- EPS Phonics Plus Readers including Readfetti decodable readers (US)
- ELSA – Essential Letters and Sounds Australia e-book library (Aus adaptation of UK program, from Oxford)
- Fantastic Phonics (US, downloadable books)
- Floppy’s Phonics readers (UK) available in Australia from Oxford
- Fun Phonics (US), free downloads
- Geodes (US)
- Go Phonics decodable storybooks (US)
- Hand2Mind (US)
- Harcourt decodable books (US, free online)
- Hero Academy (UK) available in Australia from Oxford
- Honey Ant readers (Aus)
- I See, I Spell, I Learn readers (US)
- Jelly and Bean decodable phonic reading books (UK)
- Kiwi Phonics (NZ)
- Ladybird Superhero Phonics (UK)
- Learning A-Z (US)
- Macadamia Readers (Aus)
- Mark’s Mad Phonics (UK, for ibooks, includes some free ebooks)
- Nelson Decodable Readers (Aus)
- Open Court (US)
- Oxford Reading Tree Phonics series, includes free eBooks (UK)
- Phonics Play Comics (UK)
- Phonemic Awareness and Sequencing (PAS) Stories (US, part of the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program).
- 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)
- Rainbow Phonics (UK)
- Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper: Phonics, has some free eBooks (UK)
- Reading A-Z (US, downloadable books)
- Red Apple Readers (US online reading program)
- Rhino Readers (Aus version online, and printed books will be available soon)
- Rigby Star Phonics (Singapore)
- Saddleback books for teens (US)
- Sam the Elf (eBooks)
- Sharpen Reading (formerly Abecedarian)
- 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)
- Steps to Success decodable reader series (US)
- Supercharged Readers (US)
- Syllasense (Canada)
- Touchphonics (US)
The Reading League in the US has an even bigger list of decodable books here, but most are written for their rhotic accent (final /r/ is pronounced), so are less useful to speakers of Australian English and other non-rhotic accents. Books from the US/Canada usually require some adaptation for use in Australia.
Hi-lo books
MultiLit now has a range of Firecracker books with simplified text which suit struggling older readers. The UK Barrington Stoke range are also books with enlarged font and simplified text for struggling readers, with plenty of variety for all age groups including teens and adults, Australian suppliers include Silvereye Learning Resources, Seelect Educational Supplies and Readings, and Silvereye also stocks the Ransom Hi-Lo books.
US publisher High Noon Books also has many simplified texts for older readers, click here for Australian suppliers. The Dangerous Games books and other Blake Education Hi-Lo fiction also offer a step up from decodable books for readers not yet ready to tackle mainstream books.
48 responses to “07. Decodable books”
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The Spelfabet shop has affordable, downloadable spelling teaching resources.
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!
[…] by letters on the page. This requires a proper teaching sequence for sounds and letters, and decodable books which contain the sound-letter links which have been taught, rather than levelled books of the type […]
[…] be given text composed mostly of words with sound-letter correspondences they have been taught (decodable texts). They should not be encouraged to attempt to read text containing lots of spelling patterns they […]
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.
[…] https://www.spelfabet.com.au/phonics-resources/07-decodable-books/ […]
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!
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