Why Easy-for-Me™ Children’s Readers are so Effective

There are so many children's books available today, but not all books are designed to help beginning readers practice the skills they're learning.

When children are learning to read, they need books that allow them to apply their knowledge of letters, sounds, spelling patterns, and high-frequency words. If a book suddenly introduces too many unfamiliar spelling patterns, reading can become frustrating rather than encouraging.

That's why I created Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers.

These illustrated stories are designed to give children opportunities to practice the reading skills they've been taught while gradually introducing new challenges.

And now, with the addition of our new Set F, children have even more stories to enjoy as their reading skills grow!

NEW! Explore Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers Set F

How Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers Began

The year 2000 was magical for me in so many ways.

I had a kindergarten class filled with children who responded enthusiastically to visual and hands-on learning. I was also finishing graduate school and was deeply interested in discovering which teaching approaches helped children understand and remember what they were learning.

As I taught, I paid close attention to what worked.

I watched for the moments when a concept suddenly clicked, and I noticed when an activity left the children confused. I kept the approaches that helped them learn and changed the ones that didn't.

We had progressed through learning letters and their sounds. The children were beginning to blend sounds into words, and it was time to put those new skills to work in real books.

That's when I hit a roadblock.

I had a popular series of beginning readers and was excited to introduce them.

Books 1 and 2 went beautifully. The children could sound out the words using the skills they had learned.

But when we reached Book 3, everything changed.

Suddenly, the children encountered advanced sound-spelling patterns that hadn't been taught. They tried to read the words, but the unexpected jump in difficulty brought their progress to a halt.

I realized that these children needed books that developed alongside their instruction.

If I couldn't find readers that provided the right progression, I would write my own!

And that experience led to the creation of the first Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers.

What Makes Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers Different?

When I began designing the readers, I had five important goals.

I wanted books that would:

1. Provide meaningful reading practice as children learned letters and their sounds.

2. Reinforce the high-frequency words children were learning.

3. Increase in difficulty gradually, without unexpected jumps in required skills.

4. Include preparation for each story so children could practice unfamiliar patterns and words before reading.

5. Work together as a progressive series that supports the development of essential reading skills.

These principles continue to guide the Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers.

The goal is not simply to give children more words to read. It is to give them opportunities to use the skills they've learned in connected text.

Three Important Skills Beginning Readers Need

In my work with children who struggled to read, I repeatedly encountered difficulties that could interfere with their progress.

Three areas became especially important in the design of our readers.

1. Connecting Letters and Sounds to Actual Reading

Children may learn to recite the alphabet and identify letter sounds without fully understanding how those

sounds work together to form words.

Knowing that M represents /m/ and A represents /ă/ is important.

But children also need to learn how to blend individual sounds together to read words such as MAT.

This connection must be taught explicitly.

Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers provide opportunities for children to apply the phonics skills they've learned in actual sentences and stories.

Instead of practicing sounds and words only in isolation, children see how those skills help them read meaningful text.

2. Understanding English Sound-Spelling Patterns

English spelling can seem confusing when children encounter unfamiliar patterns without explanation.

Consider the letters EA.

In BEAK, EA represents the long E sound.

In STEAK, EA represents the long A sound.

In HEAD, EA represents the short E sound.

And in EARTH, the letters occur in a different sound-spelling pattern.

Without systematic instruction, children may find these variations frustrating.

Rather than expecting children to memorize every word individually, we can explicitly teach spelling patterns, explain their different pronunciations, and provide opportunities to practice reading and writing words containing them.

Our readers are organized to help children practice appropriate sound-spelling patterns as they progress through the series.

3. Understanding What They Read

Reading is more than recognizing words.

Children also need to understand the meanings of words, sentences, and stories.

Sometimes we become so focused on helping children decode that we forget to pause and talk about what the

 words mean.

As children read, we can help them:

• Explain what happened in a story

• Identify characters and important events

• Understand unfamiliar vocabulary

• Connect information to what they already know

• Describe or visualize what a passage communicates

• Answer questions about what they've read

Mental imagery can be one useful comprehension strategy, but it is not the only one. Discussion, vocabulary instruction, rereading, and other comprehension activities also matter.

Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers include opportunities to discuss the stories and check children's understanding.

Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers: Sets A–F

Each set builds on previously taught reading skills while introducing additional opportunities for practice.

Set A: Building the Foundation

Set A focuses on foundational letter sounds and provides reading practice with the 59 high-frequency words from SnapWords® List A.

These beginning stories help children connect their early phonics knowledge to reading sentences and short books.

Explore Children's Readers Set A
Set A Scope & Sequence

Set B: Expanding Phonics Skills

Set B introduces additional spelling patterns, including long-vowel spellings, OO patterns, R-controlled spellings, digraphs, and other developing phonics skills.

It also provides practice with the 59 words from SnapWords® List B.

Explore Children's Readers Set B
Set B Scope & Sequence

Set C: Strengthening Word-Reading Skills

Set C provides practice with additional vowel patterns, including OO, OY, OI, OW, OU, and R-controlled spellings.

The stories also incorporate words from SnapWords® List C and Nouns 1.

Explore Children's Readers Set C
Set C Scope & Sequence

Set D: Practicing More Advanced Spelling Patterns

Set D introduces more complex spelling patterns, including PH, OUGH, GH, KN, WR, and several word endings.

The stories provide opportunities to apply these patterns while practicing words from SnapWords® Lists D and G.

Explore Children's Readers Set D
Set D Scope & Sequence

Set E: Developing More Advanced Reading Skills

Set E continues with additional spelling patterns and suffixes, helping children develop their understanding of how words are constructed.

It includes reading practice with words from SnapWords® Lists E and Verbs.

Explore Children's Readers Set E
Set E Scope & Sequence

Set F: Expanding Grammar and Word Knowledge

Our newest collection, Set F, includes 24 colorful, illustrated stories that introduce past-tense verb endings, plural spelling rules, and homophones. Children practice the three pronunciations of the past-tense -ed ending (/t/, /d/, and /ĭd/), explore plural forms such as -s, -es, -ies, and -ves, and learn to distinguish between words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings.

The stories also provide reading practice with high-frequency words from SnapWords® Lists F and Nouns 2, helping children strengthen word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension as they apply their growing reading skills.

Explore Children's Readers Set F
Set F Scope & Sequence

How to Use Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers

The readers are designed to be used alongside reading instruction, providing opportunities for children to practice skills they have learned.

Here is the approach I recommend.

Step 1: Preview the Story

Before introducing a new reader, review its instructional guidance and identify the phonics patterns and high-frequency words children will need.

Determine which skills have already been taught and which may require additional explanation or practice.

Step 2: Teach or Review the Necessary Skills

Provide explicit instruction in unfamiliar sound-spelling patterns.

Model how to read words containing those patterns, then guide children through blending, word building, and spelling activities.

If the story contains SnapWords® high-frequency words, review them using the recommended teaching routine.

Help children attend to the letters and sounds in each word, and practice recognizing the words in plain print.

Step 3: Read the Story

Once children have practiced the necessary skills, introduce the reader.

Encourage them to use their knowledge of letters and spelling patterns to read unfamiliar words.

Provide assistance when needed, but avoid encouraging children to guess words based on illustrations.

Pictures can enrich the story and support understanding, while decoding should rely on the printed word.

Step 4: Discuss the Story

After reading, ask questions that encourage comprehension.

What happened? Who was involved? Why did something happen? What might happen next?

Use the story's comprehension activities when available.

Encourage children to explain their thinking and revisit the text for answers.

Step 5: Reread for Fluency

Repeated reading of familiar text can help children become more accurate and fluent.

Invite children to reread a story after they've received the necessary instruction and practice.

The goal is not simply to read faster. It is to read accurately, smoothly, and with understanding.

Don't Forget Reading for Enjoyment!

One thing I always encourage is providing children with books they can enjoy in addition to their instructional readers.

Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers give children structured opportunities to practice developing reading skills.

Other books provide wonderful opportunities to explore interesting topics, enjoy stories, and build language and knowledge.

Some books will be appropriate for independent reading. Others may be better enjoyed through shared reading or reading aloud.

Both experiences are valuable.

A child who loves dinosaurs, for example, may enjoy looking through an illustrated dinosaur book even when some of its vocabulary is beyond their current decoding skills.

An adult can read unfamiliar words aloud, explain new vocabulary, and discuss the fascinating information together.

As children's decoding skills develop, they will be able to read an increasingly wide variety of books independently.

Give Children the Practice They Need to Grow

When I created the first Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers, I wanted children to experience the satisfaction of using what they had learned.

I didn't want them to encounter a new book and suddenly discover that the skills they needed hadn't been taught.

I wanted the books to provide a thoughtful progression, meaningful practice, and opportunities for success.

That remains the purpose of the series today.

With Sets A through F, we are pleased to offer an expanding collection of stories that support children as they develop their reading skills.

New stories. More reading practice. Growing confidence!

Explore Easy-for-Me™ Children's Readers Sets A–F
Easy-for-Me™ Placement Test