Decodable Chapter Books
Got an older beginning reader who needs catch-up practice? Would they benefit from more short vowel and basic phonics practice, but don't want to read "babyish" books?
This page is for you
All the Decodables for Older Students
All in one place
I have gathered links to all the decodable "high/low" books I could find in one list for you! These are the "big-kid" books your older but struggling reader has been waiting for.
(high/low aka hi-lo = high interest, low reading level books)
So without further ado, I bring you:
The Big List of Decodable Chapter Books
In no particular order ... (kinda)
I'll start with my own decodable chapter book because it's a digital FREEBIE, so you can grab it and get started straight away! This one is an adventure shipwreck survival story aimed at readers Grade 2+
I drew small black and white sketches interspersed throughout the text so that it has the feel of a chapter book.
"Join the six kids on their day out sailing with Cap'n Jack. When a storm hits, and they have to abandon ship, the kids find themselves alone ... on Bandit Island. How will they get home? And who are these "bandits" stealing their food?"
Length:
5600 words
14 chapters
300-500 words per chapter
Interest Level:
Grades: 1-6
Genre:
Adventure - Shipwrecked!
Decodability:
Short Vowels only.
CVC, CVCC, CCVC, CCVCC structures and some multisyllabic words. There are about 30 high frequency words used repeatedly in the text, as well as a select few -ed, -ing, and -y endings for reading flow and a few challenge words to fit the themes. You can find the specifics of all these these listed on my TPT page and in the notes of the book itself.
Please let me know what you think!
High Noon Decodables for Older Beginning Readers
"Action-packed stories in short books"
THERE ARE SO MANY amazing and beautifully illustrated stories for older beginning readers available from High Noon/Phonic Books. From fantasy, to mystery, to realistic fiction and non-fiction, there are dozens of series options here -- truly something for everyone.
Note: Many of these books can be found at
Phonic Books in the UK and at High Noon in the U.S.
Phonic Books - Fantasy Adventure Stories
The Fantasy-Adventure Phonic Books range in length from the 50-words per book "Moon Dogs" CVC/CVCC series, to the 300-word "Magic Belt" series, to the 3000 word "Amber Guardians" series. In the later series, each book introduces and focuses on a new phoneme.
Check out the High Noon basic scope and sequence and the Phonic Books scope and sequence.
Sound Out Phonics FICTION Books - High Noon
The Sound Out Phonics books are for older beginning readers who prefer more realistic fiction. The stories include sports, mystery, and adventure themes. There's something for everyone! Check out the scope and sequence.
Sound Out Phonics NON-FICTION - High Noon
Have older readers who prefer non-fiction but still need decodables? These are for you! Topics range from race cars to extreme sports, to trains, to wild animals, to geology.
Hi-Lo Books - High Noon
High Noon also has many other series that are high interest, low reading level. These don't follow a specific phonics scope and sequence, but they could be great for older struggling readers to tackle once they've finished the decodables.
Length:
50 to 3000 words, depending on the series chosen.
Interest Level:
Grades: 1-8
Genres:
Fantasy, Realistic, and Non-Fiction options
Decodability:
Early books have short vowels, later books incorporate long vowels, alternate spellings, etc. Check out the scope and sequence of the Fantasy Adventure books and the Fiction Books.
Choose from several fantasy series, or more realistic fiction from author Cigdem Knebel! Join in and rescue Sam the talking magic fish, find the gold of Black Rock Hill, spend Six Days at summer Camp, or solve the mystery of the King's Ring.
Though I cannot find a scope and sequence or list of phonemes included, there are full word lists and substantial previews for each book available on the website. Most of the books seem to focus on using short vowel and high frequency words!
Length:
4300 - 8200 words
Interest Level:
Grades 1-8
Genres:
Fantasy, Realistic Fiction, Animal Stories
Decodability:
Short Vowel focus
I cannot find a scope and sequence, but each book on the website has a complete word list available to peruse in the preview.
by Pamela Brookes
Dog on a Log has sweet, animal focused chapter books designed for dyslexic readers who crave the feel of an early chapter book but still need a very controlled set of words and very little text per page. The website is a little difficult to navigate but has a full scope and sequence for the books, and you can preview them on Amazon!
There are other (shorter) decodables available too.
Of Note: The chapter books are sold in collections of "5 in 1" ... five books/stories in one volume.
Length:
200-500 words in Step One
3,500-8000 words in Step Ten
Interest Level:
Grades K-6
Genre:
Realistic Fiction, Animal Stories
Decodability:
The books follow a specific scope and sequence beginning with Short Vowels and consonant digraphs, moving into the FLOSS rule, -ng/-nk, and CVCC/CCVC words, then VCE words, and more complex phonics patterns and vowel teams.
These Shared Readers look absolutely adorable, and the black and white sketch illustrations are spot on for all those mid-primary kiddos who want to move on to chapter books and graphic novels. Note that on each two-page spread, one page is to be read by an adult, and the other by the student.
"Orca Two Read Books is a series of decodable phonics stories for children ages 6–9 who are learning to read. The stories are designed for all emerging readers and have features that are especially helpful for children with a language-learning challenge such as dyslexia or with English as an additional language."
Interest Level:
Grade: 1-4
Genre:
Realistic Fiction
Decodability:
There isn't a lot posted explicitly about the scope and sequence or the graphemes used in the books available on the website. But a peek at the preview page (and the titles themselves) seems to suggest that the child-read portion of the text uses Short Vowels, with CVC and CVCC and CCVC and CCVCC formats.
Book One: The Black Silk Path
by Heather Doolittle
"What do you do when your parents have been kidnapped, possibly taken to another realm, and your ability to communicate has been stolen by a magical spell? Ed and Mel must figure this out. They are used to exploring the world with their adventurous parents, but now they are on their own. And the spell? Learning to read again is the only thing that has allowed them to start speaking again. Join them on their journey to fight the spell and find their parents before it is too late."
This magical "Shared Reading" chapter book series rigorously follows the Barton Reading & Spelling Scope and Sequence (Book 1 = Level 3, Book 2 = Level 4, Book 3 = Level 5).
Note that in this system suffixes -ed and -ing are not introduced until later, so alternate work-arounds are used when the book uses past tense verbs (i.e. "she did jump in the pond and then she did flip onto the mat.")
Of Note: "Shared Reading" means that part of the text is decodable for the student to read, the other portion is read aloud by the the instructor/parent.
Length:
3200 - 7000 words
Interest Level:
Grades 2-8
Genre:
Fantasy
Decodability:
Follows the Barton Reading & Spelling Scope and Sequence (Book 1 = Level 3, Book 2 = Level 4, Book 3 = Level 5).
Short Vowels (closed syllables)
Consonant Digraphs (th, sh, ch, wh, ck, ng, nk)
Blends & FLOSS rule
Later chapters include -all, -oll, -old, -olt, -ost, -ild, -ind endings
Later books progress to open-syllables, schwa, long vowel sounds, vowel teams, prefixes and suffixes such as -ed and -ing endings.
by Larissa Phillips
"I wrote the Rex books for the older beginning reader who still needs to practice decoding, but is ready for some fun, adventure and CHAPTERS in the pages of a book! About half of American 4th graders read below grade level. They shouldn't have to read baby books!"
"The entire series is written at the same level,equivalent to the end of Step 1 in Wilson Reading. Although the scope remains the same, text density increases with each book."
A new series of fun realistic fiction stories which start at the CVC level (albeit with a fair amount of sight words) and a very few words per page for your earliest readers! Be sure to look at the previews on the website or the paperback previews on Amazon, as the kindle preview will only show the sight words pages.
Length:
600-1100 words
Interest Level:
K-8
Genre:
Realistic Fiction
Decodability:
Short Vowels, consonant digraphs, CVC word focus (but also some CCVC, CVCC and sight words). The entire series follows the scope and sequence of Wilson Reading Step 1.
These engaging "Decodables Plus" Chapter Books don't start at the beginning phase of a phonics sequence, but they are controlled texts focusing in on a later point in the scope and sequence. There is an engaging Mystery Series, a Summer Camp series, as well as Non-Fiction about Planets, Animals, and Biomes.
You can preview some of these great books in Just Right Reader's FREE E-Library!
Length:
approx 1000-2000 words
Interest Level:
Grades 2-8
Genre:
Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Non-Fiction
Decodability:
Short Vowels, Long Vowels, R-Controlled Words.
Focus is on learning more complex suffixes and prefixes.
"Wholesome controlled text chapter books that follow decodable patterns for children learning to read and those with specific reading disabilities, such as dyslexia. Miss Moss is a decodable chapter book series for developing readers. This book helps to make young readers, students with reading disabilities (such as dyslexia), and English Language Learners feel success as they read a chapter book. The book promotes the application of decoding skills by following decodable patterns and including high frequency words to increase reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. The pages are filled with delightful, full-color illustrations to engage early and struggling readers.
Meet Miss Moss, a chipmunk. She lives in a small cabin in The Grove. Her life is the best. Or is it? Follow her as she makes a plan to fix a problem."
Grades K-4
Genre:
Animals as the main characters
Decodability:
Though there is no explicit scope and sequence I could find, the text does look fairly controlled. It starts at a later stage in a phonics progression, after long vowels and a substantial number of sight words have been introduced.
"For students in 2nd-4th grade. It was created with our older learners in mind to provide important reading opportunities."
These books are cute and beautifully illustrated mini chapter books with fairly controlled text.
They do include CVCE words from the outset.
Length:
20-30 pages
approx 1000 words
Interest Level:
Grades 2-6
Genre:
Realistic Fiction, light fantasy
Decodability:
Book 1 has Short Vowels plus CVCe
Book 6 has short and long vowels, alternate vowels sounds, and suffixes.
Check the decodable text focus on the page linked above.
(and others in this quasi-series)
My Grade 3 kiddo LOVES LOVES LOVES Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton's books!
They are all on the SUPER SILLY & ridiculously repetitive side. But he finds that hilarious! To be honest his favorites of theirs are their 156 Storey Treehouse graphic novel books, not these more decodable ones, but when practicing his reading, these were great! It might take a bit of doing to find them though, as they are limited in availability.
"How did the cat on the mat get flat? Why did Ed and Ted and Ted's dog Fred get spat out of the head of a whale called Ned? Where was Harry Black when Jack the Yak stole the snack from his sack? What happened to Buck the Duck's brand new muck-sucking truck? Who else, apart from Andy G and Terry D, was chased up a tree by an evil bee? The answers to these stupid questions – and many other stupid questions – are contained in this deeply stupid book... Well, what are you waiting for?"
If you can't find them in stores, check your local library for books by them!
Other decodable titles include: Dog on a Log in a Bog, The Big Fat Cow that Goes Kapow, etc
Interest Level:
Grades K-4 (if your kids like ridiculously silly reads!)
Genre:
Humor, Animals as the main characters
Decodability: This varies, but the text is pretty controlled, and there are a lot of repeated phonics patterns in each book.
Dreams on Wheels
"Six-pack of books with 50 stories correlated to the lessons provided in the SIPPS Plus, 4th Ed., Teacher’s Manual."
It's unclear to me if you can buy these individually - they may be going out of print. There are actually versions available online for free from the publisher if you search ... but I am not actually 100% sure they meant to have them discoverable outside their portal subscribers so I've removed the link.
Length:
175 pages of mini stories and non-fiction passages.
Interest Level:
Grade 2-8
Genres:
Realistic Fiction, Non-Fiction
Decodability: The text is fairly controlled. It follows the scope and sequence in and is a companion to the SIPPS program. It starts with short vowel words and sight words.
"Phonetically controlled novels for students with delayed reading skills.... written for upper primary and secondary students who have lower than average reading skills ... the stories touch on a range of increasingly challenging subjects, such as identity, disability, family breakup, homelessness, friendship, ambition, bullying, fantasy, war, asylum seekers, competition for resources and conservation."
These books are written for Upper Primary, and are available in print form as a complete series of books in Australia.
Decodability:
There is no published scope and sequence, but there is a controlled vocabulary in the books. Check the sample pages to see if they might fit your kiddo!
Interest Level:
Grades 4-12
Genres:
Adventure, Gritty Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary Issues, Fantasy
"An illustrated collection of stories for adult beginning readers. Few reading materials are written for adult basic literacy students. As a result, adults learning to read are often forced to do so using books created for young children. This practice can leave adult students feeling belittled, frustrated, or even a bit embarrassed. City Stories aims to correct this problem."
A collection of 24 stories written for an adult audience reading at approximately a Grade 1-3 level.
Decodability:
An introduction to the broad scope and sequence is here. The first level has primarily words with three sounds (CVC words and words with consonant digraphs), Level 2 introduces blends, Level 3 introduces multi-syllabic words.
Interest Level:
Teen - Adult
(TERL)
"These newest books in the Teen Emergent Reader Libraries are the perfect supplement to any phonics-based program and help teachers of older students reinforce decoding skills while nurturing the love of reading."
24 fiction and non-fiction books written to with a focus on three levels: CVC, Long Vowels, R-Controlled Vowels, and Multisyllabic words. Do note that there are a large number of high-frequency words included in the text - many pages have more high frequency words than words following the phonics pattern. Sample: Hip Hop.
Also note that these are only available as boxed sets, with three copies of each of the 24 books per set, so you must buy a minimum of 72 books.
Length:
16 pages
Interest Level:
Grade: 9+
Genres: Teen-centric Fiction, Non-Fiction
Decodability: The books state that they move through three levels of phonics skills - CVC words, Long Vowels, R-Controlled Vowels, and Multisyllabic words.
"Fully decodable, real literature for older emergent readers. Digital decodable novels for teens and adults. Supports instruction in synthetic phonics. Built for dyslexic learners."
These books are designed for Teens and Mature struggling readers. You can download the App for free and preview the young adult library before you buy. Topics include drug running, caring for animals, high school, bullying, teen pregnancy, dystopian earth, and high school crushes. See the various titles.
These titles were made available on an app specifically to cater to older readers who may be trying to hide their reading struggles as they are learning - something that is difficult to do with a physical book. <3
Length:
1000-4000 words.
Interest Level:
Grade 9-12
Teens (and adults too!)
Content themes likely not suitable for very young readers, but YMMV.
Genres:
Contemporary, Gritty Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Dystopian
Decodability:
The phonics sequence begins with basic Short Vowel CVC and CCVC, then moves into CVCC, digraphs, r-controlled vowels, and vowel teams.
I haven't had to look at these thoroughly yet - but wanted to drop the link here!
"Forward With Phonics aims to provide training, advice, support and resources for teachers of older children, adults and ESOL learners, who want to use phonics to help improve literacy skills."
DECODABLE COMICS &
DECODABLE GRAPHIC NOVELS
These are not exactly chapter books, however, I do find that older readers don't mind getting "caught reading" Graphic Novels and Comic Strips, and these are decodables!
The Yak Pack Phonics and Sight Word Comics
"2 innovative comic book series for teaching early reading at home or in the classroom. Parent-friendly. Modern-style comics that appeal to young and older readers. Created by certified teachers."
Length:
25 comic stories
(I cannot find word count)
Interest Level:
Grade: K-4
Genre: Animals as the main characters
Decodability: Short Vowels, CVC words, followed by digraphs, blends, and Bossy E.
These are available FREE online!
"PhonicsPlay Comics are short (2 sides of A4), simple, silly comics that can be used to help children apply the skills that they have learned in daily phonics sessions. They follow the learning sequence from the Letters and Sounds document and feature some characters that many children will be familiar with from www.phonicsplay.co.uk alongside some brand new characters."
Length:
20-100 words per 2-page comic
Interest Level:
Grade K-4
Genre: Animals as the main characters, Fantasy
Decodability:
Follows the Letters and Sounds Scope & Sequence. Begins with SATPIN, moves into the rest of the short vowels, then consonant digraphs, then vowel teams, followed by VCE.
DECODABLE STORIES & PASSAGES
These are not full chapter books. They are decodable passages without cutesy / babyish illustrations, so they may be a good choice for an older beginning reader.
The University of Florida Literacy Institute has an amazing and incredibly affordable foundational reading program stemming from the science of reading research. (At time of writing this, the Teacher's Manual is just $70 and all the materials are available online for free). <3
This toolbox includes links to all the Lesson Power Point slides, Decodable Passages, Home Practice Activities, and Additional Games that you would need to teach UFLI's full Phonics Scope and Sequence.
The decodables are text passages (no pictures - students are asked to draw their own picture for each passage) Click on a set of lessons to view the links to the associated decodable passages. The decodables start on Lesson 8. UFLI also compiles a helpful google sheet with a Decodable Text guide by scope & sequence if you are looking for more decodables to match their program.
Length: 20 to 200 words
Interest Level: Grades K-4
Genres: Realistic fiction.
Printable: Yes. No pictures, text only.
Decodability: This is UFLI's Phonics Scope and Sequence. They begin with STAMP FIN in the early weeks, then add in the other short vowels and hard consonants, then blends, followed by Consonant Digraphs and the FLOSS rule, VCE, then common endings, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, dipthongs, suffixes and prefixes, and low frequency spellings.
A series of black-and-white printable, colorable, and highly decodable readers, with short, simple, slice-of-life vignettes.
These may have some slang vocabulary that younger readers won't be familiar with.
The illustration style and vocab may be perfect for older struggling readers who need very basic books but don't want things that look too babyish.
Length: 30-40 words
Interest Level: Grades K-12 + adult
Genres: Humor, animal-centered, sci-fi
Printable: Yes. Blackline printable
Decodability: Highly decodable. There are three short stories for each vowel sound. At least one story in each set is designed to focus on words where the vowel sound occurs at the beginning of the word, to help students focus on mastering that sound.
Jennifer actively collects decodable resources on her Wakelet.
Be sure to check it out for anything I may have missed!
BRIDGING BOOKS ~ "GATEWAY BOOKS"
NON-DECODABLE BUT GREAT EARLY CHAPTER BOOKS:
These are some trade book series that are personal favorites in our household. While they aren't technically decodable, they are simple enough that they helped hook my oldest when he was struggling to read at grade level.
INTEREST LEVEL: GRADE 2-5
The Princess in Black Series - by Shannon Hale
Yes it's about a Princess. Yes boys will love it. Trust me.
Dog Man & Cat Kid Comic Club Series - by Dav Pilkey
Is this that Captain Underpants author? Is this a graphic novel? Yes it is, and after finally breaking down and letting my kiddo read them, I realized that he's a genius!
156 Storey Treehouse Series - by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
These are wacky, wild, zany, can't-make-sense-of-them books and my kiddo LOVES them.
Dragon Masters Series - by Tracey West
These are what really truly hooked my kiddo on reading so I will forever be indebted to them.
Note: These are part of the Scholastic Branches imprint. You might find another series you like there as well.
Mercy Watson Series - by Kate DiCamillo
Simply ridiculously piggishly sweet and funny.
INTEREST LEVEL: GRADE 6+
I do not have first-hand experience using these with older readers, so YMMV, however I personally love the following Novels-In-Verse (content-wise, some of them would be a better fit for high school and up), and the length and pacing may be suitable for older struggling readers:
Brown Girl Dreaming - by Jacqueline Woodson
Words with Wings - by Nikki Grimes
Inside Out and Back Again - by Thanhha Lai
The Crossover - by Kwame Alexander
Long Way Down - by Jason Reynolds
Other Potential Resources:
I have not purchased these or dug enough to find a good preview online, so I cannot speak to their decodablility yet, but they might be decodable for your kiddo. If you can find a preview for any of these, please let me know in the comments!!
Agility With Sound || Supercharged Readers || Saddleback Educational Publishing Hi-Lo || Piper Books || Big Cat Phonics - Age 7+ Catch Up || Project X Code - Oxford University Press || Rapid Phonics - Heinemann UK (I know, the U.S. branch of this company has done many dubious things during the reading wars ... but these books seem to be coming from the UK branch, and technically they are decodable) || Barrington Stoke Hi /Lo books || Jillian Powell - Code Breaker Books || Forward With Phonics || Sam and Friends Phonics Books (I can only find these as part of a bundle currently) || Discovery Little Books Grades 1-3 || Ready Reader Decodables || Reading Horizons Intervention Materials || The Collaborative Classroom Libraries || Tattum Reading || Reading Rev - Structured Literacy for Intermediate Readers || SPELD Aus - Free Digital Library (not exactly chapter books, but they are digital, and some may be interesting to older readers) || Scholastic - Nail Phonics (these use characters from favorite TV shows and other books. While they do focus on a phonics pattern they are NOT generally highly decodable) || CKLA Decodables for 2nd Grade || TPT Decodable Chapter Book Search || Rising Stars, Reading Planet - Astro || Geodes || PAF Program || Scholastic - Phonics Chapter Books || Barton Reading || Gran on a Fan Comic Book ||
I am still in the process of looking through various Hi-Lo books to see how decodable they are. Some of these might be great for teens/adults.
Anything I missed?
What kind of books does your kiddo need?
Let me know in the comments!
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