Songbirds phonic readers
“Songbirds” is a complete phonic reading scheme of 60 books, part of the the immensely popular Oxford Reading Tree. Ever since I taught my sister
to read by the phonic method, when I was six and she was four, I have
been fascinated by words, sounds and spelling patterns. Creating the “Songbirds” series was an enormous challenge ofmy favourite kind. Almost every word in every book had to be phonically
decodable, and yet I wanted to write real stories which children would enjoy
reading. I was determined also that the content and illustrations should
be as varied as possible, as I know how children’s tastes differ and how
monotonous some reading schemes can be. So some of the stories are in
prose, some in rhyme, some are realistic and others fantastical. There are
a few non-fiction titles, a play and a quiz, and the books are illustrated by
a wonderful variety of artists. I think my favourite characters are Spike
who says he can dive, drive and feed wild lions, and a kleptomaniac kangaroo
called Sue who comes to school and steals the spoons and glue.
The Songbirds page outlines the entire scheme and gives the phonetic contents of each book together with an Amazon link for individual purchases.
For educational orders, visit OUP or phone OUP Customer Services: 01536 741171
Songbirds Bind-ups
I am delighted that “bind-up” editions of the Songbirds can now be bought in bookshops, with 6 to 12 titles in each volume.
Top Cat and Other Stories Stage 1+
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192792969
The Odd Pet and Other Stories Stage 2
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192792976
The Ox and the Yak and Other Stories Stage 2
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192792983
The Scrap Rocket and Other Stories Stage 3
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192792990
Where is the Snail and Other Stories
Stage 3
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192793003
Tadpoles and Other Stories
Stage 4
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192793010
My Cat and Other Stories
Stage 4
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192793027
Leroy and Other Stories
Stage 5
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192793034
Where Were You Bert? and Other Stories
Stage 6
Oxford University Press
isbn 978-0192793041
"Songbirds Phonics is a pedigree scheme worth every penny for helping children get to grips with words, sounds and spelling patterns, and to inspire a love of reading. Writing this collection couldn’t have been easy though, because virtually every word in each book is phonically decodable .......
Julia Donaldson has described Songbirds as her ‘proudest achievement’ and it is easy to see why....
For me, Songbirds Phonics is a high quality, powerful storytelling scheme written by one of the best." Teach Primary