#readitmummiesanddaddies2013 - Spotlight on Jelly and Bean, a brilliant range of children's phonics books.

A range of Jelly and Bean Reception Stage Phonics Books

We've looked at several valuable phonics resources already, some from large publishers and some from independent authors, illustrators and publishers introducing their own ranges of characters and books to help children with early stage reading. 

We were delighted to have the opportunity to look at the Jelly and Bean range of Decodable Phonic Reading Books, attractively priced with key stage structural learning developed to introduce children to reading through characters and situations they can easily identify with. 

The most interesting aspect of the Jelly and Bean range was Charlotte's reaction to them. Rather than instantly (and instinctively) knowing that they were 'learning' books, she was more willing to spend time with them on their own merits, perhaps because the characters (particularly Bella, a little girl very like Charlotte herself) were more readily accessible than some other phonics book ranges we've seen before. 

Developed by Marlene and James Greenwood at Jelly and Bean, the books fit in with all key stages of the early reading programme from the very first introductory and easily decodable letters and words, through to the more complex decoding, digraphs and high frequency words, and the troublesome (but sometimes magical) magic 'e'. 

As dizzying as the subject of children's phonics can be, and always with the firm advice that phonic progression is just part (albeit a very important part) of a child's learning and reading journey, it's great to see a high quality range such as the Jelly and Bean books making such an attractive and authoritative impact on UK phonics. Reading the testimonials on the J & B site from teachers and parents will give you an indication of how valuable this range can be to give kids exactly the sort of boost they need when early reading. 

Please visit the Jelly and Bean Website for the full range of books, prices and details on school ordering. 

Charlotte's best bit: A fun and approachable book series with characters and situations more easily digestible than some other early readers series.

Daddy's favourite bit: Simple but fantastic book designs to keep kids focussed on the important bit - the reading, rather than proving too distracting with overly busy page layouts and illustrations.