Best decodable stories for children to read
Here is a list of the best decodable stories for beginning readers, starting with the easiest and getting progressively harder. It is important for children to read lots of decodables so that they can apply and reinforce the phonics rules they have learned. The following are the best of the best. I am excited to be sharing this list with you! And many of them are free!
Remember that phonics rules are sequential, and each step builds upon the one that came before. Before having your child read a book with long vowels in it, for example, make sure he has mastered the earlier phonics rules (short vowels, blends, and digraphs), since he will also need to apply those phonics rules when he reads the long vowel stories. If you are in doubt about your child’s phonics proficiency, click here for an excellent phonics assessment.
If you need materials to help you teach your child to read, the Steps to Reading workbooks give you everything you need. They lay out exactly what you should say and do with your child, and provide worksheets and games that make learning to read fun for you and your child. You can see sample pages from each of the books here. Enjoy!
Best books to read to practice short vowels
These are books children can read as they progress through Steps to Reading Book 1: Short Vowels.
Best books to practice short a:
Mac and Sam. These are the first two stories in Bob Books Set 1 by Bobby Lynn Maslin.
FREE: Mac and Tab. This is Book 1 in a set of 10 stories by Barbara Makar published by EPS Learning called Primary Phonics, Set 1. The free download is a sample story that is provided online by the publisher. You may want to ask your library to get you the set, or buy it, since the stories in it are all excellent, and I will be sending you to all of them at some point in this list.
FREE: Zac the Rat. This is an animated, online story from the BEST website out there for beginning readers—starfall.com. Children will also enjoy playing the two short a games listed in the menu to the left of the story.
Best books to practice short i:
FREE: The Big Hit on Starfall. Children will also enjoy playing the two short i games listed in the menu to the left of the story.
Jig and Mag. This is Book 7 in Bob Books, Set 1
The Tin Man, by Barbara Makar. In Primary Phonics, Set 1
Best books to practice short u:
FREE: Gus the Duck on Starfall. Have your child play the short u game as well as the short vowel game listed to the left of the story.
FREE: Tim in Primary Phonics, Set 1. This download is provided for free by the publisher.
Muff and Ruff. This is Book 8 in Bob Books Set 1.
Best books to practice short e:
FREE: Peg the Hen on Starfall. Children will also enjoy playing the two short e games listed in the menu to the left of the story.
Peg and Ted. This is Book 10 in Bob Books Set 1.
The Vet. This is Book 12 in Bob Books, Set 1.
The Jet in Primary Phonics, Set 1.
Best books to practice short o:
FREE: Mox’s Shop on Starfall. Children will also enjoy playing the two short o games listed in the menu to the left of the story.
Al in Primary Phonics, Set 1
Bob Books, Set 1, has 4 good books to read for short o. These are: Dot, Book 3; Mac, Book 4; ; Dot and Mit, Book 5, and Dot and the Dog, Book 6.
Best books to review all the short vowels:
Mouse Makes Words by Kathryn Heling & Deborah Hembrook. In this story, a busy mouse removes beginning letters from words like hog, hat and fan to make new words like log, cat and van. You should read the sweet little story to the child (“Mouse is busy, mouse is fast—grabbing letters as he runs past”) and your child should read the words the mouse makes. In addition to the words mentioned, he also turns net into pet, ten into hen, wig into pig and so on. It’s a fun story and the illustrations are very cute.
Primary Phonics, Set 1. This set continues to be a gold mine for short vowels. Have your child read Ben Bug, Meg, Ted, The Wig, and Ed.
Best books to read to practice blends
These books are great for kids to read as they progress through Steps to Reading Book 2: Blends.
Jack and Jill and Big Dog Bill by Martha Weston. I have yet to meet a child who didn’t love this book. Recently, one of my students (a formerly reluctant reader) enjoyed it so much that he asked to read it over and over again. He read it five times in a row and took it home with him to read some more!
FREE: The Sled. From Charge Mommy Books. All the blends books from Charge Mommy are for kids in the advanced stages of learning blends. I will soon list easier stories with only simple words like clap and sled. This book has the word sled, but it also has words like clasps, stomps, Trent, traps, spots, and slips. Great for the end of the unit, but too hard for beginners.
FREE: The Raft. From Charge Mommy Books
FREE: Clem and Cram. From Charge Mommy Books.
THIS LIST IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. MORE TO COME SOON
Best books to read to practice digraphs
Digraphs are the letter combinations —ch, —sh, —th, and —wh
These books are great for kids to read as they progress through Steps to Reading Book 3: Digraphs.
FREE: Chip Had a Hut, by Mary Geiger. This is book 7 in The Alphabet Series Volume 1. This set of 18 little books was compiled by Frances Bloom and published by EPS Learning. If you have used Steps to Reading Book 2 with your student, then you probably already have this set. Click here for a free copy from the publisher.
Best books to read to practice long vowels and y at the end of a word
Phonics rule: Long Vowels and y at the end of a word
These books are great for kids to read as they progress through Steps to Reading Book 4: Long Vowels.
The Dick and Jane series. These books are great because they include only words that follow early phonics rules above as well as the most frequently used sight words. I have kids start reading these books once they have finished Book 4 in Steps to Reading. (Click here for info on those workbooks.) That means they have learned long vowels and the sound y makes at the end of a word like “funny” and “Sally.”
The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss. I can’t praise this book enough. It is SUCH an excellent story for the kids to read at this point. It allows them to apply the first four phonics rules, as well as the most frequently used sight words. They will be SO excited and proud to be reading it.
The book is full of :
· Short vowel words like sun, wet and sat.
· Blends like bump, jump and fast
· Digraphs like fish, ship and thing. A digraph and ending blend in one word. Be still my heart! You have no idea how hard it is to find books like this on the market!
· Long vowels such as like, rake, cake and shake.
· Frequently used sight words like down, look, said, could and should. Kids will have just learned could and should in Steps to Reading Book 4: Long Vowels, so this is really great practice for those words.
The Cat in the Hat does include just a few new words kids have not learned yet like house; know and hear. That is totally fine. Just read those words to the kids when you reach them. When you reach the word “fear” on page 14, tell them words with –ea are part of the next phonics rule they will be learning—vowel teams.
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. This is a great followup to The Cat in the Hat. You can get it as an individual book at the link provided (click on the book’s title) or I recommend getting the Big Aqua Book of Beginner Readers compilation of stories listed below. It is much less expensive to buy the set than it is to buy the individual books. The set includes The Cat in the Hat Comes Back as well as five other stories your child will be reading when he or she gets to the rule below.
Just Me and My Puppy, by Mercer Meter. I always use it after kids have learned the sound y makes at the end of a word, which they do at the end of Steps to Reading Long Vowels. It has words like “puppy” and “dry” in it. Unlike Dick and Jane, the book features some words the kids have not learned yet, like “right” or “surprised” or “morning.” Just read those words to the child. Do not have them guess what they could be. Tell him he will learn them soon!
Best books to read to practice vowel teams
These are words with—ee, —ea, —ai, —oa, —oe) in them.
The gold medal for best book to read after learning vowel teams goes to:
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. The little book is a fantastic review of everything the kids have learned so far, including vowel teams. It contains lots of short vowel words and the digraph words “that” and “them” appear frequently, as does the long vowel word “like.” Even “y at the end of a word” is touched upon with the word “try.” The book contains the early sight words like “do,” “would” and “could” (kids learned the latter in Steps to Reading Book 4) and vowel team words green, eat, train, rain, and boat. Kids will be so excited to be able to read this story. For fun, you can have them hunt for the vowel team words in the book.
Green Eggs and Ham is published by Random House. That publisher also has excellent collections of stories for kids to read at this point. There are six stories in each of these books and many of them were written by Dr. Seuss. I recommend having your child read the books in the order listed below:
The Big Blue Book of Beginner Books. This includes the stories:
Put Me in the Zoo
A Fly Went By
Are You My Mother?
Go Dog. Go?
The Best Nest
It’s Not Easy Being a Bunnny
The Big Aqua Book of Beginner Books. This includes the stories:
There’s a Wocket in My Pocket! (Skip this one. It is much too hard for kids because it takes difficult real words like “bureau” and turns them in nonsense words like “nureau.” I’m not sure how this story slipped into an otherwise excellent compilation of stories!)
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
New Tricks I Can Do!
Oh Say Can You Say
Please Remember the First of October!
Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter series. As I mentioned, I have kids read Just Me and My Puppyafter they have learned the sound y makes at the end of a word. Then, once they have learned vowel teams, I have them work through the whole series. The series is good to use once kids have learned vowel digraphs like —ea, —ai and —oe.
The Mr. Putter & Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant. If you don’t want the whole set, I recommend getting the following titles:
The Little Bear series by Else Minarik. If you don’t want to get the whole series (but I highly recommend that you do!) start with the book called Little Bear. It contains four little stories. Once kids can read the first story (called What Will Little Bear Wear?) I no longer consider them beginning readers. We always celebrate because they are now "really" reading and can go on to read many other stories.