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Home > Oxford Reading Tree > Songbirds
Overview | Take a Tour | Core Stories, Patterned Stories, First Phonics - Browse by Level | Japan Special Packs | Components | Read at Home | Songbirds | Fireflies | Wolf Hill | TreeTops | Other Reading Materials | Oxford Reading Tree Level Chart
The Songbirds Phonics series comprises stories written by one of Britain's most popular children's authors Julia Donaldson, whose books include the multi-million selling The Gruffalo. She was approached to write the Songbirds series because her books such as The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and A Squash and a Squeeze, are already widely used in British schools to help teach reading, sound recognition, letter patterns and other reading skills.

The 36 Songbirds Phonics books feature decodeable texts that build on pupils' phonic knowledge as they work through 6 stages, as well as opportunities for segmenting, blending and matching sounds and letter blends. The focus phonics are listed on the back cover each book. In the second half of the series, long vowel sounds are introduced, opening up more possibilities for rhyme and story telling.

Julia Donaldson's stories are "rich" enough to engage the reader. The strong storylines facilitate comprehension monitoring, which can be lost with some phonics books if the balance between rhyme and story is not carefully constructed. The ability to know when one doesn't understand is an important part of reading and consequently, learning to love reading. These books have been described as the U.K.'s answer to the Dr Suess stories. With their engaging stories, funny characters and thought-provoking illustrations, they may prove to be even more popular!

Stage 1+ Pack
  This pack contains: Top Cat / Sam's Pot / Bob Bug / Dig, Dig, Dig! / Zak and the Vet / Mum bug's Bag. Each book contains 8 pages. 21.8x19.2cm
   


Stage 2 Pack
  This pack contains: The Odd Pet / Miss! Miss! / This and That / Fish and Chips / Singing Dad / Doctor Duck. Each book contains 16 pages. 21.8x19.2cm
   


Stage 3 Pack
  This pack contains: The Big Match / Shopping List / Gran is Cross / The Trunk and the Skunk / Scrap Rocket / Splash and Squelch. Each book contains 16 pages. 21.8x19.2cm
   


Stage 4 Pack
  This pack contains: Queen Anneena's Feast / Spike Says / The Wrong Kind of Knight / Moan, Moan, Moan! / The Snake and the Drake / Tadpoles. Each book contains 16 pages. 21.8x19.2cm
   


Stage 5 Pack
  This pack contains: Sue Kangaroo / The Cinderella Play / Usman's Books / The Upside-down Browns / Leroy / No Milk Today. Each book contains 24 pages. 21.8x19.2cm
   


Stage 6 Pack
  This pack contains: Tara's Party / Paula the Vet / Where Were You, Bert? / Clare and the Fair / The Deer and the Earwig / Jack and the Giants. Each book contains 24 pages. 21.8x19.2cm
   

 
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