With many kids learning from home, one of the many questions I’ve been getting from parents was, “What are good beginning reader books?”
The short answer is, the best beginning reader books are decodable readers!
A decodable reader is a book or text that only includes sounds and sound combinations that a child has been explicitly taught already.
If you are looking for a quick way to get 25 books your child can read, you can go and download our short vowel decodable readers HERE!
Picking Beginning Reader Books
This past year, millions of American parents have been home with their children and also largely in charge of their education. This has made reading at home even more important than it used to be. But finding and picking books that actually help a beginning reader is often easier said than done!
One of our favorite places to visit as a family are books stores. Yep, we are a little nerdy I guess, and it doesn’t bother me one bit.
Anyways, I remember visiting our favorite bookstore with my son when he was in his last year of preschool. He had started to sound out words and was on the hunt to find books he could read. So there we were, looking through boxed sets of items that were labeled as “Phonics Readers”, “Level 1 books”, and “Beginning Readers”.
As I was hunting for a few new books for him I became more and more horrified. These kinds of books weren’t going to teach him how to read, but to guess! What in the world?
The teacher in me wanted to gather them all up, take them up to the counter and explain to the clerk why these books would not help children learn to read and that they really needed to work on their book selections to help parents out! Now I’m a very non-confrontational person, so obviously this scene only played out in my head.
But there I was, with a disappointed little preschooler, who wanted nothing more than some books to practice his reading, and with me wondering, why in the world publishers printed such sub-par material.
As teacher I had always made sure my beginning readers read true phonics books that had a limited amount of sight words. This helped them practice their decoding skills rather than getting in the habit of guessing their way through a story, and I wanted the same for my son!
Why Does It Matter Which Beginning Reader Books We Pick?
I remember reading about America’s reading crisis in 2019. Mind you, this was way before the 2020 pandemic with all its school closures. It brought the fact that the average American adult reads at or below a fifth grade level and only 35% of fourth graders actually read proficiently to light. A sobering result on America’s report card that shows schools are largely failing our kids.
Parents are typically told by teachers to make sure their child reads every day. Most teachers leave it at that. However, what your child reads when they are learning to read matters! It can make the difference between practicing reading or guessing. Which habit do you want for your child?
Sadly, as you can see in my bookstore memory, not even the labels “early reader’ or “beginning reader” are reliable labels to point you in the exact right direction. The good news, there are a few deciding factors when you pick books for early readers and I am excited to share them with you.
Why Aren’t All Beginning Readers Helpful?
The very short answer is that not all beginning reader books are created equal. You really need to know what to look for when you select books for your beginning reader.
As a teacher I saw that following the “Science Of Reading” approach, brought the best results for my students. I had one year to take my struggling ELL students them from “hopefully remembering their letters” to reading fluently. Using the Science of Reading method, which focuses on starting out with decodeable text, helped me to make that happen!
Naturally when we pick out books for our beginning reader we want to make sure we pick those that follow the most effective method. This means you want to look for books or book sets that follow these rules:
- The books progress from very simple short vowel and consonant sounds on to more complicated combination sounds. In the beginning you want to see phrases like, “Mat cat has a hat.”.
- The use of sight words should be very limited! You want your child to decode words rather than guessing them.
- Beginning reader books for kindergarten should include many words with short vowels.
- Beginning reader books for first graders should also include sounds like th, sh, ch, vowels with r, and then move slowly into vowel combinations.
The Best Beginning Reader Books
So let’s dive in. These are my favorite beginning reader book sets. They don’t only claim to be for beginning readers or focus on phonics, but they actually do!
I can’t wait to hear in the comments which ones you picked for your family and how you like them.
This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small Amazon Associate commission, at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own!
Both of my children loved the Bob Book Series. We own all sets and they were fantastic starter books. Set one of the series focuses on letter sounds and truly follows the phonics rules. It is the perfect reading for Kindergarten, as these books helps to build up children’s confidence to say “I read the whole book! “. They are small, short, and easily laid out so children do not get overwhelmed with too much text. To top it off, it even includes a parent book to help guide you and your child!
Make sure you also check out the other sets in this amazing, phonics based beginning reader book series that will help your child on their way to becoming a reader!
I have used the Starfall website and app for years and was so excited to find these books since our family limits screen time . The stories are entertaining and the illustrations are colorful. Once children have mastered short vowel sounds and basic consonants, they can easily read these books and feel a great sense of accomplishment. Each book focuses on a specific short vowel sound. I love these beginning reader books both as an educator and a mom.
Starfall Learn To Read Phonics Books
This second set of Starfall books is just as great as the first and a great follow up. The stories start to include more complex sounds, with some long vowels. They are great reading for first graders.
The Five Let’s Go Books are especially designed for struggling readers and those reading with dyslexia. Each story follows a few phonics rules and includes a limited list of sight words. I love that this series comes with a companion website that includes free printable game board, flashcards, handwriting sheets, and more! How amazing is that?
Be aware though that instead of a set of small books, this book includes the parent guide, several stories, and explanations at the end all in one. You can get an idea when you choose the “look inside” feature on Amazon. I think it will work great for kids, but it’s definitely a little more textbook like than other beginning reader books.
Keep in mind that Book 1 is followed by several other in this series. They all stay true to the concept of being decodeable, not overwhelming the reader, and suitable for those reading with dyslexia.
Another beginning reader book series that truly follows the rules of phonics is “Simple Phonics Books to allow a child to gain confidence at their own pace”. If your child struggles to connect with the plain illustrations and look of BOB books, then this series is a great option for you. The first set of five books uses simple phonics words consisting of consonant – vowel – consonant and minimal sight words, without punctuation and relates clearly to the witty illustrations. Follow it up with set number 2 which keeps the story lines similar, but introduces punctuation and more complex words.
Common Questions/FAQ About Beginning Reader Books
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- What is a beginning reader?
- Is starting to read simple words by sounding them out and blending them together.
- Reads same text repeatedly to build fluency.
- Retells stories in simple words.
- What age is an early reader?
- On average early readers are between 5 and 7 years old. However, age is not a great measure in this area. A child’s language and cognitive development are more significant.
- What are the best beginning reader books for Kindergarten?
- All books listed in this post will be great for Kindergarten kids. Whenever you choose books for your early reader simply look for decodeable books with few sight words that you child will enjoy.
- What is a decodeable reader?
- Books that help children practice specific letter-sound patterns they have been taught previously.
The Last Thing You Need to Know About Picking Beginning Reader Books
As you now venture on to pick books for your early reader and read together simply keep these things in mind:
- Pick books that are decodeable, meaning words with sounds your child has been previously taught and a limited amount of sight words.
- Celebrate with them when they’ve read their first book! What a fantastic accomplishment.
- Encourage your child to sound out and blend the words as you read together.
- Most of all, make reading fun and model reading as a habit regularly. This means you may want to visit your local library to check out a few books yourself. Remember, “Do as you say, not as I do.” doesn’t’ really work well for parenting. Readers raise readers!
What other questions do you have about supporting your beginning reader? Reading is my passion, and I love helping other moms. So let’s see if I can help!