Fitzroy Readers are an Australian, very comprehensive phonic based set of readers. There are 60 readers in the series, grouped in sets of 10. The first set is short vowel sounds, then long vowels, then it goes to blends etc. The 1x-10x set gives extra practise for the short vowel sounds as that can help reinforce the early concepts. As well as basic phonics, sight vocabulary is gradually introduced alongside. Using the same basic letter sounds, digraphs and special words, the X-series reinforces and expands on material learned in Readers 1-10. Soon even longer words are no problem. Young learners forget information unless it’s repeated. The X-Series repeats and practices old special words. In the X-series, longer words are fun and easy to read. Just use information already learned in the Reader 1-10.

Fitzroy is a school in Australia which was founded by two educators who were disillusioned with the whole language approach to teaching reading.

Now updated to include colour pictures, they represent an excellent investment, particularly for those with absolute beginning readers as they have a tremendous sense of achievement in being able to read a whole book by themselves!

Level: Beginning readers. Best used with children rather than adults due to the content.

Suitability: Suitable for all i.e. home, school or homeschool use.

Also available: Word skill books, listen along CDs, workbooks and CD roms. (Based on a review by Kate Jaunay)