Book Recommendations for Dyslexic Children: Decodable and Hi-Lo Picks

Which kind of book does my child need right now?

Think of your child’s reading week as three shelves. Each one has its own job, and a child with dyslexia needs all three.

• Practice books (decodable). A decodable book is a book written mostly with the letter-sound patterns a child has already been taught, so the child can sound out the words instead of guessing. These are the books your child reads to you.
• Confidence books (hi-lo). A hi-lo book has a story and topic pitched at your child’s age (high interest) with vocabulary and sentences kept at a lower reading level (low readability). Reading Rockets describes hi-lo books as having controlled vocabulary and reading difficulty, with plots and topics suited to older readers.
• Story books (read-aloud and audio). Books well above your child’s reading level, read by you or by an audiobook narrator. These build vocabulary, background knowledge and the simple joy of a good story while decoding catches up. Our list of books to read aloud to a dyslexic child is a good place to start.

The common mistake is asking one book to do all three jobs. A leveled reader with a great story and words your child hasn’t learned yet ends up doing none of them well. Our post on decodable books vs. leveled readers explains why.

What are good decodable books for a dyslexic child?

Reading Rockets defines decodable books as simple books written for beginning readers that contain the specific letter-sound patterns the child has learned. It cites research by Heidi Anne Mesmer (2005) finding that children applied their phonics knowledge more, read more accurately and needed less help with decodable texts. These series are widely used with structured literacy and Orton-Gillingham programs:

• Dog on a Log (Pamela Brookes). Written for anyone learning to read with phonics, including readers with dyslexia. The University of Michigan’s Dyslexia Help site notes that each step adds only one to three new phonics rules, with five books per step, and the publisher offers word lists to help you find a starting step.
• Flyleaf Publishing. Decodable books organized by phonics skill, in series that grow in difficulty. Flyleaf has offered free online reading at times; check its site for the current terms before you count on it.
• Phonic Books. Its Dandelion Launchers are a step-by-step series for beginners that introduces a few sounds at a time. For an older child who still needs simple patterns, its catch-up series (such as Magic Belt, then Talisman) uses the same kind of steady progression with stories the publisher pitches at readers aged 8 to 14.
• Bob Books. A long-running set of small books arranged from beginning sounds through word families and long vowels. Check each set against what your child has been taught, since sets move at their own pace.
• Treetop Tales (we make this). Our Level 1 decodable reader collects the stories from our curriculum and uses only the phonics patterns taught in Level 1, so it lines up lesson for lesson. You can see it on our order page.

No single series will match your child’s exact sequence. That’s fine. What matters is that most of the words on the page use patterns your child has already been taught.

What are good high-interest, low-reading-level books?

Hi-lo books matter most once your child can decode simple words but still reads slowly, and feels embarrassed holding a book meant for a younger child. Reading Rockets says hi-lo books motivate struggling readers by offering topics their peers are reading about, at a level they can manage. A few places to start:

• Here’s Hank (Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver). Short early chapter books about a boy who learns differently, often recommended for ages 6 to 9. Read our Here’s Hank review for the reading level and who it suits best.
• Hank Zipzer. The older Hank series, for confident readers or for reading together. Our review of Hank Zipzer: Niagara Falls, or Does It? covers the reading level.
• Barrington Stoke. A UK publisher that specializes in books for struggling and dyslexic readers. Each title lists a reading age and a separate interest age, so you can find a story that feels grown-up at a level your child can read.
• U.S. hi-lo publishers. Reading Rockets points families to Capstone, Follett, HIP Books, High Noon Books and Orca Books, and to library hi-lo lists that include graphic novels.

One caution from Reading Rockets: a readability score is not enough. A book can be made to “test” easier just by chopping sentences short, which can make it harder to follow. Read a page yourself before you buy.

Do dyslexia-friendly fonts make a book easier?

Not on their own, according to the best studies so far. In a 2018 study in Annals of Dyslexia, Sanne Kuster and colleagues tested the Dyslexie font with 170 children with dyslexia and found they did not read text in Dyslexie faster or more accurately than text in Arial. Most children in the study preferred the standard fonts. A separate study by Wery and Diliberto found the same for OpenDyslexic: no gain in accuracy or speed.

Extra spacing between letters and lines has shown some benefit in a few studies, and clean layouts with short chapters can make a book feel less overwhelming. So enjoy a book like Here’s Hank for its story and its hero, but don’t pick books for the font. Pick them for the words.

How can I tell if a book is the right level?

You don’t need a leveling chart. Use the book’s job to decide.

1. For a decodable book: read the first two pages yourself. Could your child sound out nearly every word with the patterns taught so far? If you spot several words with patterns you haven’t covered, set it aside for later. Reading Rockets also suggests checking that the new pattern appears often in the text.
2. For a hi-lo book: have your child read one page aloud. If they can read most of it with effort but without giving up, and they want to know what happens next, it’s a keeper.
3. For a read-aloud: any level works. Choose for interest and let your child follow along with their finger if they like.

Watch for guessing from pictures or from the first letter. That usually means the practice book is too hard for now. If you aren’t sure where your child is, our free parent dyslexia screener (free while it lasts) walks you through the skills to watch.

Fitting it into your day: in a 30 to 60 minute session, use a decodable book at the end of the lesson so your child practices that day’s pattern in real sentences. Save hi-lo books for independent reading and read-alouds for bedtime. If you want lessons that tell you which patterns to teach and in what order, our dyslexia intervention curriculum lays them out, and you can start with Workbook 1 on Amazon.