Phonic Books, a truly decodable books company founded by three expert reading specialists, helps children develop the five pillars of learning to read: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension; complementary photocopiable workbooks support students who need extra practice at each level. In 2022, Phonic Books became a part of DK.

Written languages are codes of symbols which represent spoken language. In the English Phonic Code, the symbols (letters) represent units of single sounds.

Teaching reading with phonics unlocks the code to beginner readers. Teaching reading without phonics is like teaching children a secret code without the key to decode it. Some children are natural code-breakers but many are not.

The Science of Reading, which is a large body of evidence-based research that explains how the human brain learns to read and write, supports phonics-based instruction.

Blending is pushing the sounds together into a word. For example: ‘c’ ‘a’ ‘t’ = ‘cat.’ This is an underlying skill for reading.

Segmenting is isolating the sounds in a word. For example, ‘c’ ‘a’ ‘t’ are the sounds in the word ‘cat.’ This is an underlying skill for reading and spelling.

Decodable books are carefully written stories and texts that only use the letter sounds students have been taught. Specifically designed for children who are learning to read, they offer students the opportunity to practice decoding words. This helps develop their reading fluency by having them sound out the letters on the page and blend them into words. With repeated practice, children can read words quickly and fluently, gradually recognizing them by sight. View our complete offering of decodable books here.

Phonic Books are for kids of all ages who are learning to read. We offer decodable books both for children ages 4–7 who are in grades K–2 and learning to read on time, and for children ages 8–14+ in grades 3 and up who have fallen behind in their reading journey and need extra support. For both groups, Phonic Books has engaging and age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction reader sets and supporting materials for classroom and intervention implementation.

In general, our books can be used with any structured literacy program. Every program introduces the sounds in a slightly different order; our books follow the Sounds-Write Reading and Spelling program. Each of our books lists what the student needs to know before reading.

If the order of the introduction of sounds is different, delay the reading by a few weeks until the student has covered the sounds. To check the phonics progression, see our Phonics Progression Chart.

You can see how our books align with popular US curricula including UFLI, Heggerty, and more here.

Yes, Phonic Books is a publisher of truly decodable books that was founded by three reading specialists after they saw a need for additional tools to use with their students, and all original publishing was written and created by them. All new publishing is either written by one of the original founders or by another phonics expert and then reviewed by the original founders.

Yes, Phonic Books decodable books really are truly decodable. Not only are our books ~90% decodable, but they also include additional resource material like word lists, comprehension questions, and “knowledge builder” spreads.

Yes, sans serif fonts and cream-colored backgrounds help reduce visual stress for dyslexic students.

The target phoneme and the decodable book must match up so students are always able to sound out and blend the words in the book. You can use the diagnostic assessment here or in our instructional manuals to match your student with the appropriate Phonic Books series.

You can find diagnostic assessments for older readers in our instructional manual for catch-up readers. You can also find reading assessments here to match your student with a suitable series.

Get in touch with us at K12education@penguinrandomhouse.com for guidance,  or review the Phonic Books scope and sequence here.

We recommend buying the activity books, which offer a mixture of blending, segmenting, reading, spelling, comprehension tasks, and much more. These activity books are linked to the reading books and help reinforce learning.

Yes, the carefully planned phonics structure of the books fully supports a phonics-first approach to reading. The books can be used for individual or group reading.

This depends on how your school is going to use the books. In order to work out the optimum number, you will need to decide the following:

Are they for whole-class use or group use?

For group use: How many students in a group? Six? Eight?

Will the books be used for intervention? How many sets does this teaching format require?

Does the school plan to prepare book bags? If so, you will need one copy for each child.

Are classes sharing the books?

*Note that only one activity book per instructor is necessary, as these are photocopiable.

All three of Phonic Books’ Dandelion series (Dandelion Launchers, Dandelion World, and Dandelion Readers) are intended for kids ages 4–7 who are learning to read on time. Dandelion Launchers and Dandelion World are both intended for the newest emerging readers and have no more than 100 words in any book. Dandelion Launchers is a fiction series, while Dandelion World is nonfiction. Both introduce new letters/sounds while supporting previously taught letters/sounds and high-frequency words, moving from the most basic sounds of the alphabet and double consonants to multisyllabic words and suffixes. Dandelion World takes it one step further than Dandelion Launchers by extending to VCe spellings in its VCe Spellings set.

Dandelion Readers cover the same scope and sequence as Dandelion Launchers and Dandelion World, but have more words on a page to help build reading stamina. Each book has between ~90 and ~550 words depending on the set and skill covered.

Learn more beginning on page 5 of the Phonic Books catalog.

We have age-appropriate nonfiction decodable reader sets for both students in grades K–2 who are learning to read on time and those in grades 3–8 who need extra support. Dandelion World is our series of offerings for K-2, and The Fact Files is our series of offerings for grades 3 and above.

You can refer to this chart to establish the progression of our books.

Dandelion Launchers and Dandelion World are suitable for children beginning to learn how to read. They should be used in kindergarten.

Dandelion Readers are suitable for grades 1 and 2, depending on the progress of the student.

All of our Hi-Lo decodables are suitable for older, striving readers ages 8–14+.

The photocopiable activity books complement the decodable books. They contain photocopiable activities for students who need further practice in blending, segmenting, spelling, and reading comprehension. Some activities should be introduced before reading the books, and others, such as comprehension, should be introduced after reading the books.

A short explanation on each page explains when and how to introduce the activity.

While learning to read, children quickly encounter common words used to construct simple sentences. Some are decodable; other common words have complex spellings that the child may not be able to decode at the early stages of reading. These words are referred to as “phonically-irregular high frequency words” or “heart words,” and are gradually introduced in the texts.

Written languages are codes of symbols that represent spoken language. In some scripts, the symbols may represent parts of the word. In the English Phonic Code, the symbols (letters) represent units of single sounds.

Teaching children how to read with phonics unlocks the code for these beginner readers. Teaching reading without phonics is like teaching children a secret code without the key to decode it. Some children are natural code-breakers, but many are not.

Synthetic phonics differs from traditional phonics. In the past, children were taught to break up words like ‘cat’ into ‘c’ and ‘at.’ The word would be taught as part of the ‘at’ word list.

Synthetic phonics teaches children to identify each sound in the word separately and then blend or ‘synthesize’ the sounds together into a word. Children are taught to blend and segment each sound in the word.

The English Phonic Code is complex. Beginner readers start with the simple part: the Initial Phonic Code. This includes the sounds of the alphabet within CVC (consonant/vowel/consonant) words, adjacent consonants in four- and five-sound words (e.g. ‘land’, ‘from’, ‘blend’), and the consonant digraphs (ch, sh, th, ck, ng, and qu). The Initial Phonic Code is taught in Units 1–15 in the Dandelion Launchers and Dandelion World series, and in Units 1–20 in the Dandelion Readers Series.

The Extended Phonic Code includes the vowel and consonant sounds that are represented by alternative spellings. For example, ai, ay, a, ea, and a-e all spell the sound 'ae.’ In our books, the Extended Phonic Code is taught in Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4, as well as in the Split Vowel Spelling books in the Dandelion Readers series, and for older readers in the Alba, Totem, Rescue, Titan, Talisman 1, and Talisman 2 series.

Yes, Phonic Books has decodable books for older readers ages 8–14+ who are struggling with phonics skills and have fallen behind in their reading journey. Engaging and age-appropriate images and storylines appear throughout the fantasy, adventure, and real-world fiction and nonfiction offerings for this age group. Phonic Books catch-up reader set skills begin at the sounds of the alphabet and go all the way through to morphology. Learn more beginning on page 20 of the Phonic Books catalog.

Yes, Phonic Books has multiple reader sets at each phonics skill level. You can see what’s available at each one by using the scope and sequence grids on page 5 (for kids in grades K–2) and pages 22–23 (for kids in grades 3–8+) in our catalog.

Yes, Phonic Books has two different series of hi-lo chapter books that focus on morphology (prefixes, suffixes, and Latin word roots/bases) and are intended for children ages 10–14: Against the Odds and Mount Olympus Mysteries. Morphology practice is key to improving spelling and reading comprehension, and, thus, these two series provide an essential bridge between truly decodable books and mainstream chapter books. Both series also use accessible fonts to reduce visual stress for dyslexic readers.

Against the Odds is similar to the ever-popular “I Survived” series, but with a morphology twist; each book unravels the extraordinary experiences of young people overcoming incredible challenges during real moments in history such as the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii, and Hurricane Katrina.

Mount Olympus Mysteries keep kids engaged by pulling them into exciting mysteries rooted in Greek myths and legends, including those of Apollo, Athena, and Hermes.

Yes, Phonic Books has a vast offering of supporting materials for ease of implementation of our decodable resources in any school setting, whether classroom, small group, or 1:1. Phonic Books offerings include photocopiable activity books that complement every decodable reader set to provide further phonics skills practice; instructional manuals with detailed lesson plans for kindergarten, grade 1, and intervention; and card games to successfully engage both beginner and catch-up readers.

Yes, Phonic Books can be used alongside any curriculum program, including some of the most popular: HMH Into Reading, Wilson Fundations, and EL Education. Alignment documents are available for these and other curricula here for ease of implementation in tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 settings.

Educators and literacy experts have always loved Phonic Books, and continue to greatly appreciate its evolution to be even more engaging and inclusive than ever before.

PDX Reading Specialist Barbara Steinberg calls Phonic Books “the best decodable books out there.” School Library Journal called the Phonic Books Dandelion Launchers Extras Stages 16–20 reader set in particular “a true gold standard in the rapidly growing market of decodable books.”

Yes, if you are ordering for a US school or district, or if you would like to speak to a K12 sales representative about which Phonic Books will best suit your needs, please contact K12education@penguinrandomhouse.com.

If you're interested in receiving a quote, or still need assistance in identifying which Phonic Books offerings best suit your students' needs, you can reach out to our sales representatives at K12education@penguinrandomhouse.com.

You will receive a shipping confirmation email that contains tracking information once your order is on its way to you.

Yes, please email k12education@penguinrandomhouse.com and they will be able to advise on your request.

Items ordered directly from Penguin Random House may be returned to us under the following conditions:

• Items must be new, unopened and include all components
• Return shipments must include a copy of the original packing slip
• Return shipments must be sent by traceable means (such as USPS Priority Mail

Service or UPS Ground Service) within 10 days of the shipment date on the packing slip

Returns that meet the above conditions should be sent to:

Returns Center

Penguin Random House LLC

1019 N State Rd 47

Crawfordsville, IN 47933

Refunds will only be issued for new merchandise ordered directly from Penguin Random House and returned in original condition. Refunds will be issued for the value of the items ordered and any applicable sales taxes; original order shipping and handling and return freight charges will not be refunded.

We suggest you retain a copy of the tracking number for your return for reference. A refund will be issued to the card used on the order within 4-6 weeks of us receiving the returned item(s) provided they meet the conditions above.

No, we don’t exchange goods, but you can return your order if it is in resaleable/brand-new condition.

Once an order is submitted, it is not possible to change the delivery address. Please check that the correct address is used when placing your order.

No, this offering is not available. For books that are part of a pack, the entire pack would have to be re-purchased in order to obtain the lost title.

Ebooks are available for a selection of Phonic Books titles on Amazon, Apple, Google, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Hoopla, O’Reilly, Mackin, Actively Learn, ebooks.com, Baker & Taylor, OverDrive, Bibliotheca and Vitalsource.