Decodable Books

At Agility with Sound, we have reimagined what a decodable book can and should be.

Imagine a book that is made up of words the student can read effortlessly; a book with a focus on comprehension rather than decoding practice. A book that builds comprehension.

Imagine this in a book written for older students, on themes that tap into the imagination of this cohort.

Imagine how non-fiction can come alive for students when it is set in a story framework.

Imagine your students saying, as so many do, ‘But I haven’t finished reading this. Can I …?”

Our sequence follows the needs of older students.

Yes, phonics knowledge is usually limited, but much more importantly, much more commonly, much more restricting, so many students simply do not know what to do as words get longer, even if they know the relevant letter-sound correspondences.

Our sequence takes this into account. New phonic elements are added gradually, but words become longer at successive levels.

The books follow the Wordchain sequence precisely. Learn how to decode these words: what sounds the letters stand for, how to put them together in a word effortlessly and instantly, develop the skills, and then apply that knowledge to reading a book from the appropriate level.

There is a sample page for each book in the gallery of each product  > Buy AwS > Shop Books > Select Level.  Click on the cover image or product title to enter the product. 

Focus on decoding cvc words, s suffix, and double final consonant (toss, well, add)

Title Phoneme Fiction, Non-f, N-f as story Word count Senior, Junior, All
Gas! cvc F 228 All
A Nap in the Sun cvc F 285 All
Rat gets Fat cvc F 294 All/ J
Gus the Pup cvc + s suffix F 307 All/ J
The Rag Pet cvc + s suffix F 382 All /J
Wag Wag cvc + s suffix F 188 All/ J
Go Sam Go cvc + s suffix F 335 All / J
Bugs in the Jam cvc + double final consonant F 341 All
Nan is O.K cvc + double final consonant F 284 All/ J
Mum’s Big Mess cvc + double final consonant F 219 All
A Kip in the Sun cvc + double final consonant F 305 All
Yum said Mum cvc + double final consonant F 326 All
My Bus cvc + double final consonant F 562 All/ S
A Tad cvc + double final consonant F 233 All
A Monster Problem cvc + double final consonant F 556 All
Rot in a Log cvc + double final consonant F 661 All/ S
A Mix Up cvc + double final consonant F 728 All/ S
For my Kids cvc + double final consonant F 528 All/ S
A Pet for Todd cvc + double final consonant F 682 All/ S
To Get to my Job cvc + double final consonant F 740 All/ S

Focus on decoding cvc words, s suffix, and double final consonant (toss, well, add)

Title Phoneme Fiction,
Non-f
Non-f as story		 Word count Senior, Junior, All Writing
A Bad Vet th F 474 All 1
Jess the Cat th F 543 All/ J 1
Into the Mud th, sh, ch F 1096 All 1
Cob and Sod th, sh, ch F 1169 S 1
Pepper in the Batter Adds ing, ed, er suffixes F 716 All
Nag Nag Adds ing, ed, er suffixes F 775 All 1
A Winner Adds ing, ed, er suffixes F 744 J
Polly and the Gas Man ing, ed ,er and y suffixes F 1019 All 2
A Pet Fox ing, ed ,er and y suffixes S 1* 739 All 2
Pig and Dog ing, ed ,er and y suffixes F 719 All/ J

The Problem of a Soccer Mad Dad

 ing, ed ,er and y suffixes F 905 All/ S 1
Josh and his Bus ing, ed ,er and y suffixes F 413 All/ J 1
Sam and the Piglet ing, ed ,er and y suffixes F 602 All 1
My Big Rig ing, ed ,er and y suffixes F 823 All
The Illness of Tilly the Pig ing, ed ,er and y suffixes S 2* 893 All/ S 1
When a Mozzy Bit Me ing, ed ,er and y suffixes N 908 All/ S 1

Riff-Raff and Fuddy-Duddy

 ing, ed ,er and y suffixes F 905 All/ S 1

1* The behaviour of foxes, told through the challenges of attempting to keep one as an indoor pet.

2* A true account of one family’s experiences keeping kune kune pig

Focus on ck, more simple suffixes

Title Phoneme Fiction
Non-f
Non-f as story		 Word count Senior, Junior, All Writing
The Old Tom Cat ay F 282 J
The Tin and Box Man ay F 713 All/ J 1
Stuck ck; le F 604 All/ J
Cop and Robber ck; ay F 657 All 1
A Hat for the Rugby ck; ay and y as in my F 642 All/ S 2
The Rock Cutters ck; ay, -all words F 828 All/ S 1
All for a Better Shell ck; le, en suffixes N 1375 All/ S 1
Rats! ck; ay, y as in my, ow; le and led F 571 All/ J
A Letter in a Bottle ck; le, en suffixes S 1* 1001 All/ S 1
Mr. Ducket’s Ferret ck; le, et, en suffixes F 1147 All/ S 1

Picking up Kitty

 ck; le, et, en suffixes F 874 All 1

A Spy in the Colony

 ck; le, et, ly suffixes S 2* 1689 All/ S 1
A Shipwreck ck, -all words; le, et, en suffixes F 1297 All/ S 1
Fishing for Cod Ck; le, et, en suffixes S 3* 1403 S 1

1* The true story of a stowaway on Captain Cook’s vessel but imagined from the stowaway’s point of view. Details the fears of many sailors who believed the world was flat.

2* Based on a scientific paper about the threats to an endangered colony of gulls, and the role of rabbits in that threat. Told from the point of view of a gull chick, who becomes a spy to discover the problem of rabbits.

3* A true account of the collapse of the cod fishery in the North Atlantic, as told through the stories of several generations of one family of fishermen.

Focus on initial blends and simple suffixes

Title Phoneme Fiction,
Non-f,
Non-f as story		 Word count Senior, Junior, All Writing
My Gran Initial blends F 714 All 2
Griff and his Sled Initial blends F 997 All 1
The Maths Test Initial blends, ay, ow and y as in my F 752 All 1
Dilly Duck Initial blends, introduces ng S 1549 All 1
Little Red gets Cunning Initial blends; ng S 940 J
Getting Dinner Initial blends; ng F 749 All
Chicken Licken Initial blends F 484 J
Rugby Initial blends, y as in my S 456 All
Little Butterfly Initial blends; y as in my S 4* 663 All 1
A Trip to the Rugby Initial blends, ar phoneme F 195 J
Party in the Dark Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes F 662 All 1
Daddy Long Legs Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes N 1169 All/ S 1
A Frog Pet Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes S 5* 1109 All 1
The Starfish Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes N 1014 All/ S
The Battles of an Arctic Fox Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes N 1351 All/ S 2
Pufferfish Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes N 1225 All/ S 1
The Little Chick Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes F 567 All
The Ant and the Cricket Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes F 916 All
Mr. Rat and Mr. Frog Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes F 790 All
I am a Tracker Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes S 6* 2178 All/ S 1
How they Play Cricket Initial blends, ar, ng phonemes N 2448 All/ S
Stuck, Jammed, Trapped Triple initial blends, str, scr, spl S 7* 1816 S 2

1* About mallard ducks but told from the point of view of one family who endeavoured to bring up a lost duckling.

2* How young foxes actually learn to hunt, told in fictional format.

3* The myth of the invention of Rugby at Rugby School, as told by fictional students.

4* The book details the process butterflies must go through once they emerge from a chrysalis to enable flight. In this story, an old moth explains the process to a rebellious butterfly.

5* Details the habitat, diet, life cycle and more of frogs. The fictional element explains why this makes them unsatisfactory household pets.

6* A true account of the role and skills of search and rescue trackers. The story is about an imagined search for a child missing in a forest. My son is a trained search and rescue volunteer and helped with the details in the story.

7* This book explains the feeding and other habits of the giants of the ocean, the blue whale, the sperm whale, the colossal squid and giant Pacific octopus, as told by a giant octopus who, through a surfeit of curiosity, finds himself stuck in the gullet of a blue whale.

Focus on final blends and simple suffixes

Title Phoneme Fiction,
Non-f,
Non-f as story		 Word count Senior, Junior, All Writing
Camping Final blends F 413 J 1
Me with the Paddles Final blends, ol words S 1* 1265 All 2
Agnes and Mrs. Smith Final blends F 623 All
Mumps Final blends, l-controlled vowels F 485 J
Under the Bed Final blends, l-controlled vowels F 1006 All
The Hut Final blends, triple initial blends F 804 J
The Godwits Final blends, ol words N 938 All 1
The Shag Final blends N 762 All 2
The Chest in the River l-controlled vowels F 1005 All 1
Sally Mon Final blends, triple initial blends S 2* 981 All/ S 1
Mum’s Garden Plan Final blends F 830 All
The Robins Final blends, triple initial blends N 1476 All
One Man and a Donkey Final blends, triple initial blends N 1596 All/ S 1
My Days in the Skidder Gang Final blends, triple initial blends S 3* 1277 All/ S
My Days as a River Pig Final blends, triple initial blends S 3* 1645 All/ S 1
Ndotto the Elephant Final blends, double suffixes (ered) N 1670 All/ S 1
River Otter, Sea Otter Final blends, l-controlled vowels N 2611 All/ S 1
A Jar of Jam Final blends, double suffixes (erly) F 1137 All
Jin the Otter Final blends, double suffixes (ering) S 4* 1576 All 1
Getting to the Summit Final blends, double suffixes (ingly) F 1395 All/ S
Whiskers Black Final blends, double suffixes (ened) S 5* 2508 All/ S 2

1* About the ubiquitous paddle crab, as told by one of their number.

2* The life cycle of salmon, with a particular focus on their need to navigate up and down rivers. What happens when there is one or more hydro dams on the river? The story follows the life of one female salmon.

3* These two books are about logging virgin forest in early Canada, and then the challenges of floating the logs down the river to the mill. Told as excerpts from a diary of one of the men involved.

4* Jin the Otter escaped from the Auckland Zoo in 2006. This is an account of her capture, exaggerated in parts.

5* Whiskers Black is fictional, but his story is typical of the many swaggers who walked the rural roads of New Zealand and Australia in depression times, seeking farm work, usually in return for food and a spot in a barn to sleep. A forgotten part of our history.

Focus on a_e, i_e. o_e;, ee, ea; ce

Title Phoneme Fiction,
Non-f,
Non-f as story		 Word count Senior, Junior, All Writing
Nessy the Monster a_e F 1328 All/ S 1
The Quake a_e S 1* 731 All/ S 1
Mandy’s Problem a_e, i_e F 374 J
The Snake Problem a_e, i_e, o_e F 1058 All 1
The Limpet a_e, i_e, o_e N 1018 All 1
Diving with a Manta Ray a_e, i_e, o_e S 2* 2337 All/ S 2
The Whale Stranding a_e, i_e, o_e; triple initial blends S 3* 1390 All 1
The Leaf Cutter Ants ee, ea N 759 All
An Emerald Pendant ee, ea; or, igh F 1847 All/ S 1
Libby Riddles ee, ea, or N 1717 All/ S 1
Taking Control of the Nile ee, ea, or S 4* 1868 All/ S
Hitler and his Beetle ee, ea, or; basic prefixes N 1408 S 1
Rin Tin Tin ee, ea, war words N 1425 All/ S
Gold ee, ea, or; basic prefixes S 5* 1404 All/ S 1
The Glider ee, ea, or; basic prefixes N 2362 S 1
Shark Attack ee, ea, or; basic prefixes S 6* 1858 S
A Runaway’s Tale ee, ea, or; basic prefixes S 7* 2521 S 2
Ice Cream ee, ea, or; basic prefixes N 2622 S

1* How an earthquake can alter the landscape, sometimes dramatically, as told by confused trampers.

2* About manta rays but told by a diver who rescues a ray from a tangle of fishing net. The ray allows the narrator to ride on her back, follow her day, as rescued mantas really do.

3* A true account of one whale stranding but told through fictional characters.

4* The advantages and significant disadvantages of damming the Nile in Egypt, as told by three fictional characters who explain the various impacts on them.

5*A true account of gold mining in Central Otago, but the characters are fictional.

6* This is about the porbeagle shark, what is known about it, and what scientists have yet to learn. That part is non-fiction. Fictional scientists are on a mission to discover what they can, but the data suggests that much of what they believe is incorrect. The readers know something that the scientists do not; students must sort out the confusion. A lesson in scientific methodology.

7* The story of this runaway slave is largely, but not completely, based on a true story. The book explains the condition of slaves in southern U.S states.

Focus on vowel digraphs

Title Phoneme Fiction,
Non-f,
Non-f as story		 Word count Senior, Junior, All Writing
The Stingray ai N 561 All
Adrift with a Shark ai, oa F 2939 All/ S 1
Pink Candles ai, S 1* 2041 All/ S 1
Uncle Max’s Big Problem oa, ai F 354 J
My Holiday ai, oa, oo F 2158 All
Catching Flying Fish tch N 728 All
The Beaver dge N 1455 All/ S 1
The Christmas Truce u_e, are, ire S 2* 1582 All/ S 1
The Humpback Whale ou N 1068 All/ S

The Runner

 ou N 1682 All/ S 2
Living in a Yurt ur N 1368 All
The First All Blacks ur, ir, ear as in earth N 1512 All/ S 1
Turtles in Peril ai, oa, oo, ou, ir, ur, tch, dge N 1692 All/ S 2
The Elephant Problem o as u, as in money N 943 All/ S 1
This Life of Mine r-controlled vowels, incl air, ear etc N 2542 All/ S

The Hunter and the Bear

 r-controlled vowels, incl air, ear etc S 3* 2871 All/ S 1

The End of the War

 ew N 1056 All

Fast and Slow

 ew, aw N 1416 All 1
Rocket Boosters and a Horse’s Backside au, oi, ow as in town, simple prefixes F 1667 All/ S 1

1* A true account of conditions in coal mines in the early 1800s, when candles were used to light the mines. The characters and their specific challenges are fictional.

2* Allied and German soldiers called a truce on Christmas Day in WW1, with events as described in this story. Written as a letter home by one allied soldier, the letter was begun before the truce and completed after it. This soldier’s thoughts are fictional.

3* An account of grizzly bear lifestyle and behaviour, as told by a hunter who experienced an all-too-close encounter.

Focus on vowel digraphs

Title Phoneme Fiction,
Non-f,
Non-f as story		 Word count Senior, Junior, All Writing
T. Rex ea as in bread N 2213 S 1
A Voyage in Antarctica wa,war,wor: ough, aigh, augh N 3545 S
To Elephant Island wa,war,wor: ough, aigh, augh N 3630 S 1