14 Great Books for Learning to Read

There are 5 important elements for learning to read.

Phonemic Awareness – Recognizing and using individual sounds to create words.

Phonics – Understanding the relationships between written letters and spoken sounds.

Reading Fluency – Developing the ability to read a text accurately and quickly.

Vocabulary Development – Learning the meaning and pronunciation of words.

Reading Comprehension Strategies – Acquiring strategies to understand, remember, and communicate what is read.

Preschoolers will benefit from reading and practicing with these skills in mind. Early and emerging readers are developing these skills as they reach for fluency. Anyone will find pleasure in this list of 14 Great Books. For those learning to read, use these books for an excellent time of fun and practice!

An amazing set of lists for all kinds of readers: Reading Rockets Tips for Parents

14 Great Books for Learning to Read…

Alphabet Books

Alphabet books assist readers in learning the letters and letter sounds, the essence of phonics. Many alphabet books use rhyming which is helpful for developing phonemic awareness. Alphabet books are also great opportunities to develop vocabulary.

1. Creature by Andrew Zuckerman Many of the spreads in this alphabet book include a picture of an animal body part with the first letter of the animal’s name on one page and a picture of the entire animal on the following page. Develop comprehension by asking your child to predict the animal on the next page. Try to discover and name other animals that start with the same letter.

2. I Spy Letters by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick This book provides all of the above and is perfect for reading again and again. The images within the text act as clues to the emergent reader and the adult should pause for their contributions. Find, name and count all the highlighted letters, as well as repeating the sounds they make. Use the photographs to find more words with that letter sound. (Want more I Spy? / Tips for Making Your Own I Spy Images and Riddles.)

Predictable Books

Predictable books use text and illustrations that help the reader to anticipate words, phrases or events. Repetitive phrases or story patterns provide early readers a sense of fluency and expression. It is likely these will be among the first books young readers learn to read independently.

3. Who Hops? by Katie Davis This predictable book with illustration cues and repetitive phrases has the added bonus of a clever exercise in reading comprehension. The sections, Who Hops?, Who Flies?, Who Slithers? and Who Crawls? each end with a silly answer and short explanation. Make sure your reader tries to predict the answer to the final question. (For more, read Who Hoots? by the same author.)

4. Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin and Eric Carle This classic book follows a pattern on each page as each animal introduces the next animal in the story. “Brown bear, brown bear what do you see? I see a red bird looking at me.” The red bird picks up the pattern on the next page and the pattern continues throughout. (Also read: Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? from this series. See Eric Carle’s Website for an amazing booklist for young readers.)

5. Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons created and illustrated by James Dean with story by Eric Litwin This story about Pete the Cat losing his groovy buttons has repetitive phrases, a song and a positive message. Be sure to sing as you read and encourage your reader to read/sing along. (For more fun with this cool cat, read 5 other Pete the Cat picture books with songs, and grow on to read the Pete the Cat I Can Read series. You can also view the song videos for free.)

Concept Books

Concept books are perfect for pre-readers through developing readers. Ranging from simple to complex, they present information clearly and in entertaining ways. Ask your librarian where to find the concept books for endless early learning.

6. One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger This concept book presents the numbers 1-10. It also highlights smaller words in larger words using little windows. This is a fun way to identify and learn specific words. It uses a couple handfuls of words that enhance a preschooler’s learning to read it independently. (Watch a young reader share the book. For two more books that promote new vocabulary, read Lemons Are Not Red and Green by this author/illustrator.)

7. I Spy Shapes in Art by Lucy Micklethwait This concept book introduces famous artwork to develop identification of plane and 3-dimensional shapes. It uses a repetitive pattern and provides numerous opportunities to find and identify shapes in the artwork. The simple layout of text helps early readers make predictions. It also provides opportunities to discuss art. Extend this learning to identifying shapes throughout daily life, by producing artwork for the household and by visiting a museum. (Read I Spy Colors in Art to extend vocabulary by adding descriptive words to common nouns.)

Rhyming Books

Rhyming words and segmenting sounds are essential skills for developing phonemic awareness. Many books for young readers utilize rhyming. Rhyming also translates to segmenting sounds when you identify that the beginning letter or sounds change while the ending sounds and letters stay the same.

8. Look! A Book! A Zany Seek-and-Find Adventure by Bob Staake This wonderful book uses a predictable pattern and windows to highlight illustrations of the rhyming words so readers can guess the words on their own. It is full of reading opportunities and zany illustrations to keep the young reader returning again and again.

9. Dinosaur Roar by Paul and Henrietta Stickland This book develops the concept of opposites and some great vocabulary. It uses rhyming to help with phonemic awareness and predictability. But best of all, it features various types of dinosaurs!

Phonics Books

Phonics books are based on common sound spelling patterns and provide the greatest opportunity for success for early readers. The emerging reader who understands that patterns of letters make predictable sounds will develop confidence with these books.

10. Bob Books by Bobby Lynn Maslen The Bob Books are small boxed sets of 12 books each. They are phonics based and move the beginning reader quickly through to the emerging level and on to become developing readers. Use the “My First Bob Books: Pre-reading Skills” box to help a pre-reader with the concepts for letter recognition. Use the “My First Bob Books: Alphabet” to develop the sound letter association. Once pre-readers have learned the alphabet, they are ready for the “Bob Books, Set 1, Beginning Readers”. What makes these books great is that they deliver an educator’s skills directly into the hands of families supporting their young readers. (View and order Bob Books.)

11. Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss This is “The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use.” Phonetic and rhyming words become sentences, accompanied by the wacky and original illustrations of this genius author/illustrator.

Books That Motivate Readers

Reading is a lifelong adventure that can sometimes feel arduous. Motivational books about reading will help young readers on their journey.

12. Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr This refreshing look at the benefits of reading uses predictable patterns and illustrations embedded with words. Read this book to motivate early readers and get some ideas of places to read and things to learn from books. (Check out the author’s website for more than 20 great books written for young readers. See the author read the book.)

13. Artful Reading by Bob Raczka This book combines the author’s love of art and reading, introducing the reader to works of art that feature books! Some predictable sentence structure, and highlighted words offer strong opportunities to develop new reading vocabulary.

14. The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak This ingeniously imaginative book captures the joy of reading without pictures, introducing the young reader to the idea that the written word can be an unending source of mischief and delight! (See the author read the book.)

Doren Damico is a veteran education specialist who loves to read. Doren is committed to linking research, resources and wise advice to her articles. Subscribe below to follow the Playful Minds Guide for more guidance and resources.

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