10 Learn to Read Books That Worked for Our Kids

Katie G.:  These books are great for beginner readers. The simple, rhyming words help to reinforce beginning reader sounds and sight words. My kids loved these! I even decided to save them to pass down to grandchildren some day.

Kelly R:  I had a lot of success teaching both of my kids to read with these learn to read books from Usborne! The 15 stories in the set are entertaining, creatively illustrated, and more exciting than a lot of beginning reader books tend to be. The books progressively introduce new sounds and challenges to build on each other. The earlier books take a collaborative approach with the adult and child each reading their own parts, and the child's share of the story increases until they are reading the last 8 books on their own.

Sue Krawitz Tandoc:  I used this book with my oldest son to teach him to read. It is excellent and if you stick with it each day, it does work. It is a gradual and natural process as children learn the sounds of letters and how to sound out with words. They are reading sentences by lesson 20 and simple paragraphs from lesson 30 on, along with the introduction of new sounds and letter combinations. The lessons are 20-30 minutes each. But it really takes doing one lesson each day, a little over 3 months, plus practice reading books throughout and after. I used to give small rewards for each 10 or 25 lessons, more towards the middle and end when it gets more challenging to keep up his motivation.

These first reader books include 25 stories that will help your little one begin their reading journey. Each page features just one line of simple text so kids can move through the books without feeling overwhelmed. A helpful parent guide is included so you can make the most of each reading session. This set is for complete beginners (Guided Reading Level A), but more levels are available when your child is ready for learning to read books that are a bit more advanced.

Mo Willems' Elephant & Piggie stories transition really well from bedtime read-alouds to beginning reader books that kids can read cooperatively with a parent or entirely on their own. The simple and witty text in these books is dialogue-based, which is great for helping young readers learn how to read with expression. Many of the best Elephant and Piggie books explore themes such as friendship, problem-solving, and sharing in a relatable way for young readers.

Did you know that just 12 words make up 25% of the words we read and write every day, and just 100 words make up 50% of the words we read and write every day? Pretty amazing! Those "key words" are the foundation of these beginning reader books. If your child can learn to read and identify the key words, they'll be well on their way to more advanced reading skills! This boxed set contains 36 books at three different levels (A, B, and C).

A refreshing alternative to the typical phonics stories, these beginning reader books use nonfiction topics illustrated with full-color photos. Topics include animals, plants, and seasons. A corresponding activity book and stickers are included, as well as tips for parents. This set is for complete beginners (Guided Reading Level A), but more advanced levels are also available when your child is ready to move on.

Vanessa M.:  Some of the first books I reach for when my children are learning to read include the Biscuit series by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. The adorable illustrations and engaging stories draw emerging readers into the easy-to-read books, starring Biscuit the puppy. The books are short enough to keep a young child's attention while also delivering a sweet story in each book. We use Biscuit books to reinforce sight words with our little reader! Woof woof!

Author Mary Ann Hoberman offers multiple books where the parent and child alternate reading to help a young child learn to read and take on the role of reader for his or her pages. The text actively teaches through repetition, rhymes, alliteration and short sentences on topics of interest to children such as short stories, fables and fairy tales. This is a delicate way to transition from a parent reading to a parent and child reading together.

Michael Farina:  After moving on from the Bob series, I struggled to find something for my first-grader to read every day. This series is Goldilocks – not too long/short, easy/challenging, or picture/word intensive. Each book has several stories, broken into chapters. Each chapter is 6 pages, and every other page is a comic strip. Since each book has 20+ of these chapters, they are perfect for the family that wants to do a reading assignment each day, without having to get new books weekly.

This series claims to be aimed at older students in remedial reading, but I think it's great for a 1st-3rd grader trying to learn.