Phonics Books
As a speech and language pathologist with more than 20 years of experience, I know how important the building blocks are for developing reading skills. Stages of Reading Development begin long before children begin to recognize letters, but learning to understand the relationship between letters and their sounds is essential for learning how to read.
I spent years studying language and sound development as a speech and language pathologist. When it came time to help my kids learn to read, I was disappointed in the phonics books that I saw most often. I wanted books that followed phonics rules and slowly progressed in difficulty. I often found that there was absolutely no scientific foundation for any of these books. A true phonics book is a decodable book. Meaning, a child can use the rules they have learned to sound out the words.
I have a ton of information about phonics, what it is, and why it is so important on my “What is Phonics ” post. But, in a nutshell, phonics books are decodable books that play an important role in learning how to read. These are simple books that follow the rules of phonics to help young readers on their path to proficiency.
Important Vocabulary
- Phonics books
- Phonics is the ability to understand the correlation between sounds and letters. Phonics books have words that follow the rules for beginning readers
- Decodable books
- Decodable books follow the rules of phonics, so beginning readers can sound out new and unfamiliar words
- Phonemic awareness
- This is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words.
- High Frequency Words
- High-Frequency words, or sight words as they are often called, are words that you will see quite often while reading. But what makes these words special is that they can not be decoded using the normal rules of language. Eg, “his” the “s” at the end of this word is pronounced like a “z”
- CVC
- This stands for consonant, vowel, consonant. Examples are cat and dog.
- Sound-Letter Correspondence
- This is the relationship between the letters and the sounds that they make. Many letters make more than one sound (ex. C).
*Phonics Books Post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through links result in a small commission to us at no cost to you. Some books have been gifted. All opinions are our own.
Best Phonics Reader Books
Charge into Reading Decodable Reader (stage 1)
Author: Brooke Vitale and Katarzyna Jasinka
Year: 2022
Genre: Phonics Books
Age: 3+
More info: Part of a series:
Stage 2: Consonant Blends
Stage three: Digraphs Stage
Four: Long Vowel VCE Words
Plot
This is the first of an 8-stage reading program that I think is absolutely wonderful. This first set concentrates on short vowel sounds with ONE vowel sound per book.
The inner cover of each book has a list of the words that are included in the book, as well as the high-frequency words that are in the story. Each book has an adorable story, and at the end, there are comprehension questions! Eg: Match the sentence to the picture.
Why Jackie loves it
The literacy activities at the end reinforce the reading and understanding. These phonics books allow children to learn and master one phonetic sound at a time for a lifetime of reading success. As a speech therapist, I have to say these are my all-time favorite phonics reader books.
Find this book in: Phonics Books
Brain Quest Phonics Readers: Set 1, Decodable Readers
Author: Workman Publishing
Illustrator: Workman Publishing
Year: 2026
Genre: Phonics Books
Age: 3+
More info: Perfect as a decodable book for beginning readers
Plot
These phonics books cover all the skills a kindergarten-age child needs to begin their reading journey. The set contains fiction and non-fiction books that look at short and long vowel sounds. This is the perfect beginning for a new reader.
Why Jackie loves it
I love that these decodable books are based on the science of reading. The characters are adorable, which is an added bonus. There are audio read-alouds for each book, which is an AMAZING way to get learning in through multiple modalities. Stickers are also included to help track progress, which is such a fun way to reinforce learning. There are also corresponding workbooks. This set of books is at the top of my list as a resource for a beginning reader who is looking for a solid foundation for their reading journey.
Find this book in: Phonics Books
Starfall Learn to Read Phonics Books
Author: Blue Mountain Arts
Illustrator: Blue Mountain Arts
Year: 2014
Genre: Phonics Books
Age: 3+
More info:
Plot
I love these phonics books so much that they are what I used when my three children were learning to read. I am not sure why these books are not more popular, considering they have a wonderful “learn to read” computer program and app to accompany these books.
This program was developed and tested in a classroom and pays specific attention to phonemic awareness (the sounds that each letter makes). This program is systematic in that it starts with a CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) pattern for consistency when first learning how to read. These are excellent phonics reader books that are very underrated.
Why Jackie loves it
I love the progression of this reading system that starts with beginning sounds. I love the reinforcement with the computer game, which is 100% not necessary, but a fun addition.
Find this book in: Phonics Books
Usborne Phonics Readers 12 Book Collection
Author: Russell Punter, Lesley Sims, Phil Roxbee Cox
Illustrator: Stephen Cartwright
Year: 2020
Genre: Phonics Books
Age: 3+
More info:
Plot
This set of phonics reader books comes with 12 books: Big Pig on a Dig, Goose on the Loose, Fat Cat on a Mat, Toad Makes a Road, Ted’s Shed, Fox on a Box, Sam Sheep Can’t Sleep, Mouse Moves House, Frog on a Log, Shark in the Park, Ted in a Red Bed, and Hen’s Pens.
Each book in this series works within a word family ranging in difficulty from easier to harder. For example, Big Pig uses the short i sound, which is easier to start with than Shark in the Park, since the “ar” is a different vowel sound than the a in the word cat.
Like the Charge into Reading books, these have a list of the vocabulary words at the beginning, along with the high-frequency words in each book. I would say that these are for children who already have a basic grasp of sound-letter correspondence.
Why Jackie loves it
I love that these books are based on word families (rhyming words)
Find this book in: Phonics Books
More Phonics Reading Books
Hooked on Phonics
Author: Hooked on Phonics
Year: 2017
Genre: Phonics books
Age: 3+
More info: Eight-book series
Plot
This is a reading program that has 8 levels of phonics books that are each geared toward specific foundational goals in order to help little learners become confident readers. The levels start with identifying letters and increasing sound awareness.
Why Jackie loves it
The books gradually move through rhyming, identifying sounds, sight words, vowel sounds, and more. These are tried and true phonics reader books.
Find this book in: Phonics Books
Plot
This phonics book is perfect for a very beginning reader. It has 25 phonics-based stories inside. The first 7 stories each have a single word family, and the later stories get more complex with more than one word family within the story.
Why Jackie loves it
I think that as children are beginning to read, following rules and having consistency leads to less frustration. Higher success can lead to more enjoyment and thus, will help you grow an independent reader.
Find this book in: Phonics Books
Popular Phonics Books for Kids
I put these books under the title of popular because these are phonics books that you will likely see everywhere and have been recommended to you time and time again. However, there are a number of reasons that I am not including these books in our list of favorites, and I will actually explain why in the description of each book.
Bob Books- Set 1 Beginning Readers Box Set
Author: Bobby Lynn Maslen
Illustrator: Amy Jindra, Karen Wall
Year: 2006
Genre: Phonics Books
Age: 3+
Plot
The books are 12 pages each with limited words, which is great. However, the limited sight words are not identified before the child begins reading the book. The books also progress in a way that does not seem intuitive to me. The books introduce vowels and consonants simultaneously. From my experience, it is the vowels that are the most difficult for kids to learn in a CVC word.
Why Jackie’s Thoughts
These are the most popular phonics books for kids, and I honestly do not understand why. The sound progressions do not seem to follow a specific pattern. I like that kids can use pictures as clues, but this can lead children to anticipate what the word is rather than reading it. If they cannot sound the word out, the anticipation can become a hindrance.
Find this book in: Phonics Books
Step Into Reading Paw Patrol Phonics Box Set
Author: Jennifer Liberts
Illustrator: Mike Jackson
Year: 2015
Genre: Phonics Books
Age: 3-5
Plot
This set is 12 readers featuring the Paw Patrol Characters. The beginning of the book has a list of all the words you will be seeing throughout the book.
Jackie’s Thoughts
Like the Pete the Cat books, there are few words that have the actual target sound. There are also a lot of sight words introduced simultaneously. Words like “quick” and “trike” are very difficult words because of the consonant blends. These are also uncommon words to include in a book in a set that is supposed to be the short a sound.
This popular phonics book set is also based on popular characters, which can be very motivational for kids
Find this book in: Phonics Books
I Can Read Pete the Cat Phonics Books
Author: James Dean, Kimberly Dean
Illustrator: James Dean
Year: 2017
Genre: Phonics Books
Age: 3+
Plot
This is a set of twelve phonics reader books. The stories are simple, and there are bright illustrations to keep kids interested. In addition, familiar characters are always a bonus.
Jackie’s Thoughts
At first glance, they are great because they are divided into short and long vowel sounds and have familiar characters. However, the words in this book are very long and will be very overwhelming for a beginning reader. For example, the second page of the first book (short a sound) says, “He eats Bananas for breakfast.”
The only word in that sentence that has the short a sound is the word banana, which happens to be 2 syllables and 3 more letters than a CVC word. It is too long. “breakfast” is also not on the list of beginning sight words a new reader should be learning. Words like the, he, she, there, what, etc. are much more appropriate.
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Expert Tip
Teaching reading at home is a rewarding process that will have lifelong benefits. These are the important things to remember:
- Make it Fun
- Be patient
If you follow these tips and use the strategies for teaching reading that I gave you, you will have a confident reader!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Phonics and Why is it Important?
Phonics is the ability to understand the correlation between sounds and letters. This is the first active step in learning how to read.
Many pre-reading skills are important to know BEFORE you begin the actual process of teaching your child to read
What is the difference between a phonics book and a decodable book?
For this post, phonics books and decodable books are the same thing. Phonics is the process by which children learn to decode books! Both phonics books and decodable books follow the rules of the language to help beginning readers learn to read.
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Epilogue
What phonics books have you used and loved?
