Read with Oxford: Stages 1-2: Julia Donaldson's Songbirds: My Phonics Story Collection

My four-year-old is currently going through what I call a "learn-hungry" phase. He is absolutely desperate to decipher the world around him, constantly asking what signs say or trying to pick out letters on cereal boxes. We wanted to capitalize on that momentum without making reading feel like a boring classroom chore, and this collection has been the absolute perfect fit for us. If you’ve ever looked at early reader books, you know they can be painfully dull. "The cat sat on the mat" is fine for mechanics, but it doesn't exactly capture a child's imagination. That is why having Julia Donaldson’s name on these was a huge selling point for me. Because she is a master storyteller, even these very simple, phonics-based stories have a bit of wit and rhythm to them. They actually feel like little adventures rather than just lists of words. The progression from Stage 1 to Stage 2 is handled really well in this set. Stage 1 is very basic, focusing on initial sounds and simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, which gave my son a massive confidence boost right out of the gate. He could finish a whole "book" in one sitting, and the look of pride on his face was worth every penny. By the time we moved to the Stage 2 stories, he was ready for slightly longer sentences without getting frustrated or overwhelmed. I also really appreciate the "Tips for Parents" sections usually found on the inside covers. When you aren't a teacher, it’s hard to know if you are helping or hovering too much, and the guidance on how to ask questions about the story was super helpful. If you have a Reception-aged child or a preschooler who is showing signs of being ready to read, I can't recommend this enough. It turns "learning to read" into just "reading a fun story," which is exactly what we wanted.

Read with Oxford: Stages 1–2: Julia Donaldson Children’s Books is a really nice set for kids just starting to read. The stories are fun, simple, and a bit silly in a good way, which keeps children interested without making things too hard. Julia Donaldson’s writing makes it feel more like storytime than learning, and the bright pictures help a lot too. Overall, it’s a great way to build confidence and get kids enjoying reading early on.

Perfect for a child learning to read. Really happy with this set.

We’ve been really impressed with these. My daughter already knows her letter sounds, so this set has been the perfect next step to help her start blending and reading short words. The stories are short, fun, and full of repetition, which gives her confidence as she reads aloud. She also loves the sticker she gets at the end of reading each book!

I highly recommend Songbirds for teaching your child to read. The stories are fun and engaging, and they follow a clear path of phonics progression. This is a lovely set of six Stage 1 books and six Stage 2 books, together with a sticker chart (which my child loved). However, it is possible to buy these twelve books as part of a larger 36 book Songbirds Phonics collection at a very reasonable price. I wish I had realised this. Moreover, my child found it quite a big leap from Stage 1 to Stage 2, both in terms of complexity of words and length of story. This might not be such an issue if you are just supplementing school reading. For us, we needed quite a lot more practice at stage 1 level, so ended up getting the Stage 1+ books and some books from other series as well.

My child loves these books, and although school haven’t yet sent home any reading books, this gave him a great level of confidence that he can read stage 1 and much of stage 2. Highly recommend

These books are fantastic for my 4yo son, and 3yo niece! The stickers are amazing for when they finish the book themselves. Very good for children starting/just started school.

Lovely stories. Work well with the schools reading systems. Great for beginner readers. Good quality books.

Very nice stories that focus on phonics and have a fun storyline. Julia Donaldson never disappoints!

I love Julia Donaldson books so I was eager to get these early readers for my daughter. When I flipped through them though, I was surprised to find a nasty or negative tone to many of the books. One book consists of classmate after classmate telling a bully to “buzz off” before reporting him to their teacher who can’t wait for her day to end so she can go home, only to find her own kids behaving the same way. In another book, a mom “tells off” the dad because he’s singing all the time. There is a book about a bunny who closes his restaurant because all of his patrons are complaining. There’s a book where the mom is called a “fusspot” by the dad for calling the doctor when the baby is sick. And other books show evil looking characters like vain cats and toddlers being toddlers. Honestly, I was baffled. I thought the readers would be cute and funny. I don’t want to encourage these negative attitudes in my impressionable 5 year old so I’ll be returning.

An amazing series . My child loves it .

Very good collection of books for kids who are starting to read.the book contains small stories which can be read by doing phonics.it was very helpful for my 6 six year old son who couldnt read at all.

Very good for kids starting to read