For Parents and Caregivers
Sometimes it can be hard to know where to start in choosing books for kids,
so I have divided my books for children into three levels:
Read Aloud, Read Along and Read Alone.
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There is also more information about how how to assist dyslexic or struggling readers below.​​
Read Aloud:
"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents" - Emily Buchwald.
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It's never to early to start reading books aloud to children. In fact, the earlier the better! Babies love board books to play with and chew on, and you can start reading picture books to young children for as long as they are happy to keep still.
Reading aloud to children from a young age, often while cuddled on a parent's lap, helps foster a lifelong love of reading, builds vocabulary, and creates strong parent-child bonds. It shows children that reading isn't just about skills, but also about positive association, comfort, and quality time, turning books into sources of joy and connection.
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The simple act of reading to a child can lay the foundation for their future as readers and learners. Some of the benefits of reading aloud are:
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Bonding: Reading together creates warmth, comfort, and security, making children feel loved and important.
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Early Exposure: Introducing books and stories early makes them a natural, fun part of a child's life, not a chore.
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Skill Development: This closeness helps build vocabulary, comprehension, imagination, and even improves sleep patterns.
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Parental Role: It underscores that parents (and caregivers like older siblings or grandparents) are the primary educators in a child's reading journey.
Here are some books you might like to read aloud with your child:
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Picture Books
Co-written with Eliza Hull and illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett
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This rhyming picture book is a great read aloud for children of all ages to understand the social model of disability. As picture books are usually written to be read aloud, they can provide a good opportunity for discussion between children and caregivers.
If your child likes this book they might also like Come Over To My House.
Illustrated by Lucinda Gifford.
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In this funny series about Big Dog, he is faced with the challenge of having to share his beloved master with two new arrivals into the family. This story can be used as a gentle way to explore the feelings a children might have around the arrival of a new baby or step-siblings.
If your child liked this book, they might also like Big Dog Is A Big Help.
Billie's Kindergarten Adventures
Illustrated by Ailsa Coburn
Childhood is a time rich with imagination. A cardboard box can become a car and a slinky piece of blue fabric can become the sea. These read aloud stories of Billie in kindergarten explore all the places she and Jack visit in their imaginations, always returning back in time for fruit snack.
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A read aloud to share with your pre-schooler.
Jobs and Places and Happy Faces
Illustrated by Chris Kennett
If your child is a School of Monsters fan, but not quite ready to read on their own, you might like to share this book with them. In this hardback picture book, reminiscent of Richard Scarry and Where's Wally, we meet the families of all the little monsters and find out what they do all day.
If your child liked this book, they might also like Wheels and Springs and Moving Things.
Read Along:
"Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty.
It should be offered to them as a precious gift." —Kate DiCamillo
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Once your child is old enough to show some interest in learning to read, you might like to introduce them to early readers and chapter books. Unlike picture books, which can have quite elaborate language, as they are most often meant to be read aloud by an adult, these kinds of books are written with very simple vocabulary for a child to be able to sound out for themselves.
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Start by reading these books aloud with your child, then you can begin to point out some of the smaller words they might be able to decode for themselves. Encourage them to read the same books a few times to build up practice.
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Here are some books you can start with to help your child build their reading confidence:
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Chapter Books
Illustrated by Chris Kennett
Welcome to the School of Monsters: the funniest, silliest and most accessible series for first readers.
Start by reading only the last word on every line and work your way up to reading the whole story. With tumbling rhymes and an infectious sense of humour, the weird and wonderful students at the School of Monsters are guaranteed to spark a love of reading.
There are thirty books in the series for your child to practice their reading skills, plus an animation in the works.
Illustrated by Aki Fukuoka
Every down-to-earth story follows bold, brilliant Billie as she uses her imagination to tackle a new challenge, whether it’s about friends, family or feelings. With her best friend, Jack, by her side, there’s nothing Billie can’t do!
With more than ten million books in print around the world, Billie B Brown has helped a generation of children love learning to read.
Each book is carefully designed with short chapters, decodable vocabulary and lots of illustrations. There are over thirty books in the Billie series for young readers to explore.
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Illustrated by Stephanie Spartels
Billie's best friend, Jack, has his own series. Where Billie is fearless and can sometimes act without thinking, Jack is quieter and more cautious than his irrepressible friend. But they always stand up for each other, no matter what.
Written to help young readers navigate their emotions and explore their softer side, these books use the same accessible, decodable language as the Billie series to help build a child's reading confidence.
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Read Alone:
“Books and doors are the same thing.
You open them, and you go through into another world.” —Jeanette Winterson
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Congratulations! Your child has become a confident and independent reader.
Now you have succeeded in creating a reader, the trick is how to keep them reading!
Especially once they hit high school and reading can often be associated with schoolwork
and assessment.
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Tips to keep your child reading:
Make reading fun for older kids by connecting books to their interests (movies, games, hobbies), making it interactive (acting out scenes, cooking from a book, building cubbies), using tech (audiobooks, reading apps), creating cosy spaces, and letting them lead the choice of books, turning reading into an adventure rather than a chore. Modelling reading yourself also shows its value and enjoyment.
Connect to Interests & Real Life:
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Book-Movie Tie-ins: Read a book, then watch its movie adaptation and discuss the differences.
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Hobby-Based Reading: Find books about their favorite things, like video games, sports, coding, or art.
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"How-To" Books: Use cookbooks, craft books, or science experiment guides to read for a tangible outcome.
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Family Book Club: Choose a book to read together and have family discussions or even a themed snack.
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Go to the library, bookstores and book events together whenever you can.
Make it Interactive & Playful:
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Act it Out: Encourage dressing up as characters or performing scenes with funny voices.
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Build a Reading Nook: Create a cosy cubby, tent, or themed space with blankets, pillows, and a flashlight for a special atmosphere.
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Reading Games: Play "I Spy" with words, do crosswords, or make a book-themed scavenger hunt for clues.
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Reading Buddies: Read to a pet or a younger sibling.
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Audiobooks: Listen to audiobooks during car rides, chores, or while drawing/building.
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Change Locations: Read outside, in a hammock, or even in the bathtub.
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Mix Silent & Read-Aloud: Alternate between independent reading and reading a chapter aloud to them (or having them read to you).
Empower Them:
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Let Them Choose: Take trips to the library or bookstore and let them pick books and series that genuinely interest them.
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Become a Book Critic: Give them a journal or chart to rate books, write reviews, or even record video reviews for relatives.
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Model Reading: Let them see you reading for pleasure, showing it's a valuable adult activity.​(Especially Dads! Read with your sons so they see it's something that men can also enjoy.)
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Remember: Comics, graphic novels and audiobooks are all valid forms of reading.
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​Here are some more challenging books that your child might be ready to move onto.
As with everything I write, I always aim to keep the most struggling reader in mind and aim to write stories that are fast-paced and accessible.
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Junior Novels:
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Billie has started a secret mystery club with her friends, and there are lots of mysteries to solve!
Who lives in the spooky house at the end of the street? What do the coded messages say, and who is sending them? Billie and her friends are going to find out!
Join Billie and the Secret Mystery Club as they solve all six Billie B mysteries.
A six-book series featuring the same cast of favourite characters from the best-selling Billie B Brown series, but a slightly more challenging read.
Stay tuned for a graphic novel version of this series to be published in 2026!
Who ever heard of a witch and a monster being friends? Everyone knows that witches don’t mix with monsters. Witches are educated, clever, sophisticated. But monsters? Monsters are just uncouth. Some are even dangerous. But Polly the witch and Buster the feelings monster have been best friends forever. It’s the sort of friendship that makes your heart squeeze with happiness. Somehow, they've managed to keep their friendship a secret. Until one day, when everything changes.
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An illustrated trilogy for 6-8 year olds about friendship and the importance of standing up for what you believe in.
More...
"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark."
—Victor Hugo
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Learning to read is a skill that needs to be explicitly taught. Unlike oral language,
which has been around for 100,000 years, written language has only existed for
30,000 years. This means we are not born with brains wired to read, and as we acquire
this skill, a part of our brain is rewired to become a proficient reader. This is done through
explicit teaching and lots of practice and repetition.
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Some children may need extra support to learn to read, particularly those with Dyslexia or other learning difficulties, but all children can be taught, provided they receive adequate instruction. If you are interested to read more about this, you might like to pick up Reading In The Brain by Stanislas Dehaene or my own book, Wild Things: How We Learn To Read and What Can Happen If We Don't.
Ideally, your child will learn to read in school, but there are lots of things, as caregivers, we can do to help our child to become reading ready and to support their reading journey at home:
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Read Aloud Daily: Exposes children to language and models reading.
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Teach Phonics Systematically: Teach letter sounds and blending.
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Build Vocabulary: Use new words in conversation.
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Make it Fun: Use apps, games, and a wide range of books.
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Provide Practice: Encourage reading in everyday life (signs, menus).
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Key Stages & Components:
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Early Awareness (Pre-Reading):
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Phonemic Awareness: Noticing and playing with sounds in spoken words (rhymes, initial sounds).
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Print Awareness: Understanding that print carries meaning (reading signs, books).
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Decoding (Cracking the Code):
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Letter-Sound Correspondence: Learning letters and the sounds they make (e.g., 'b' makes /b/).
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Phonics: Blending sounds to read simple words (b-a-t becomes "bat").
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Sight Words: Memorizing common words for quick recognition.
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Fluency & Comprehension:
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Fluency: Reading smoothly, accurately, and with expression.
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Comprehension: Understanding the meaning of the text, relying on vocabulary and background knowledge. ​
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I have worked with literacy specialist, Gisela Ervin-Ward, to create a Phonics kit for caregivers to practice with children at home, as well as other support material and educational activity books, which you can find here.
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"We love wayward children in literature. Not so much in life."
This book for parents is about how we learn to read and what can happen if we don’t, through the eyes of a parent who did everything the wrong way. Through meticulous research, interviews with educational experts and conversations with neurodivergent adults, Rippin shares her brilliant and eye-opening insights into how we can help all kids find the joy in reading, and advocate for them within the limited mainstream schooling system – and maybe even help shift the system entirely. After all, they say school isn’t for everyone, but if everyone must go to school – then why not?
