Laprea Education decodable books: an honest parent's guide

Last updated 2026-07-10

What are Laprea Education decodable books?

Laprea Education is a small, teacher-founded publisher that makes decodable readers and phonics materials for early and struggling readers. The books follow one hard rule: every word is either fully decodable using the patterns taught up to that point, or it's a pre-taught high-frequency word. Nothing slips through.

That sounds simple. It's actually rare. Plenty of books marketed as "decodable" are only half-controlled, sneaking in advanced vowel patterns or blends before kids have learned them. Laprea codes each book by phonics skill, so a Level 1 book stays inside CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words and basic consonants. A Level 5 book adds vowel teams because the sequence has built up to that point.

The company was founded by a reading interventionist who watched kids in intervention programs fail to find books they could read without guessing. The materials carry that classroom origin. They're practical, not flashy, and the instructional design holds up under scrutiny.

You can buy the books individually or in sets. Laprea also sells phonics activities, word sorts, and decodable sentence strips. Most of the catalog sells directly through their website and through Teachers Pay Teachers.

Why does a decodable book need a strict scope and sequence?

A decodable book only works if the child has already been taught the exact patterns the book uses. Teach vowel teams at the same time a book introduces them, and the child can decode. Let the book jump ahead, and the child has no choice but to guess. Guessing trains the brain to memorize whole words instead of using phonics ^[1].

The National Reading Panel's 2000 report found that systematic, explicit phonics instruction produces significantly better outcomes for early readers than incidental or embedded approaches ^[1]. "Systematic" is the key word: skills build on each other in a set order. Decodable books are the practice arm of that instruction. A child rehearses exactly what they've been taught and nothing else, which builds fluency with each pattern before the next one arrives.

Kilpatrick (2015) and others call this "orthographic mapping," the process by which the brain stores a word's spelling tied to its sound and meaning ^[2]. Kids with dyslexia or phonological processing weaknesses map words more slowly, so they need more controlled, repetitive decodable practice, not less. Hand a struggling reader a leveled book full of undecodable words and you're asking them to keep using the same broken strategy that's been failing them.

Laprea's sequence tracks what you'd see in structured literacy programs like Wilson Reading, Barton, or RAVE-O: short vowels first, then blends and digraphs, then long vowel patterns, then vowel teams and diphthongs. That order isn't arbitrary. It reflects how often each pattern shows up in English and how much phonological work each sound takes to produce.

How are Laprea books organized by phonics level?

Laprea sorts its readers into levels tied to specific phonics skills. The broad structure looks like this:

Level	Core phonics patterns covered	Typical grade range
1	Short vowel CVC words (a, i, o, u, e), basic initial and final consonants	K, early Grade 1
2	CCVC and CVCC blends, digraphs (sh, ch, th, wh)	Grade 1
3	Closed-syllable multisyllabic words, -ck, -ng, -nk	Grade 1 to 2
4	VCe (silent-e) long vowel patterns	Grade 1 to 2
5	Vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, ea, oa, ow)	Grade 2
6	Diphthongs, r-controlled vowels, advanced vowel teams	Grade 2 to 3

The grade ranges are loose. A third-grader reading at phonics Level 2 isn't unusual, especially with dyslexia or a history of patchy phonics teaching. Level tracks what patterns have been explicitly taught, not the child's age.

Parents like one detail: the target phonics skill is printed on the cover. You never have to guess which book comes next. That transparency matters, because a parent working without a specialist can still sequence the books correctly.

Laprea also sells decodable sentence strips and phonics activities that match each level. Using the strips alongside the books gives kids practice reading a pattern in isolation before they meet it in connected text. That extra step helps kids who need more repetition.

Are Laprea decodable books based on the science of reading?

Yes. Their design matches what the science of reading research says about effective early instruction. The science of reading isn't a single study. It's a body of converging evidence from cognitive science, linguistics, and education that points to explicit, systematic phonics as the foundation of learning to read, especially for at-risk readers ^[1][3].

The Simple View of Reading, proposed by Gough and Tunmer in 1986 and replicated many times since, frames reading comprehension as the product of decoding ability and language comprehension ^[3]. Decodable books support the decoding side of that equation. They don't replace comprehension-rich read-alouds or vocabulary work. They're the practice ground for making decoding automatic, so mental resources free up for meaning.

David Kilpatrick writes that struggling readers need "intensive phonological and phonemic awareness training combined with decodable text practice" to build the word recognition automaticity fluent reading requires ^[2]. Laprea's books supply that decodable practice.

What the books don't do is teach phonics. A child reading a Laprea book should already have been taught the patterns inside it, by a parent, teacher, or reading specialist. The book is practice, not instruction. Parents who hand over the books with no phonics teaching often report thin results, which makes sense. The books assume the child has the phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge to decode. If those foundations aren't there, build them first, then use the books for fluency.

Who benefits most from using Laprea decodable readers?

The clearest winners are kids diagnosed with dyslexia or showing signs of dyslexia who are working in a structured literacy program. They need high volumes of decodable text that stays inside their current phonics knowledge. Most classroom leveled readers, even in phonics-friendly schools, don't give enough controlled practice. Laprea fills that gap.

Homeschoolers using a systematic phonics curriculum like All About Reading, Abeka, or Explode the Code also benefit, because they need readers that match what the curriculum has taught. Library leveled readers often carry patterns the child hasn't met yet, which leads straight to guessing and frustration.

Typically developing kindergarten and first-grade readers benefit too, though they have more room to maneuver. A strong reader can absorb a few words they can't fully decode because their phonological awareness is stronger and they self-correct more easily. For them, decodable books are one good tool among several. For struggling readers, they're close to essential.

Adults learning to read and older students with big decoding gaps can use decodable books, though the content can feel babyish at those ages. Laprea's books are illustrated and story-based, which helps, but an eighth grader may find the themes too young. In that case, decodable passages from Barton Reading or Wilson Reading System, written for older learners, fit better alongside or instead of Laprea.

Not sure whether your child has a reading disability or just needs more phonics practice? A learning disability test or a dyslexia test can clear the picture before you spend heavily on materials.

How do Laprea books compare to other decodable book series?

Several decodable series fight for the same shelf space. Here's how Laprea stacks up:

Series	Scope and sequence transparency	Price per book (approx.)	Age/content feel	Notes
Laprea Education	High (skill labeled on cover)	$4-7 each; sets $30-80	K-2 feel, illustrated	Teacher-founded; scope is explicit
BOB Books	Moderate (sets by concept)	$3-5 each in sets	Very early K	Classic, but limited scope beyond CVC
Flyleaf Publishing	High	$5-8 each	K-3, illustrated	Strong scope documentation
Dandelion Readers (UK)	High	$5-9 each	K-3	Phonics-first, common in UK programs
Sunshine Decodables	High	$4-6 each	K-2	Widely used in schools; colorful illustrations
Primary Phonics	Moderate	$3-5 each	K-2	Long track record; less explicit scope labeling

Prices are approximate ranges as of mid-2025. Exact pricing shifts by retailer and by whether you buy single books or sets.

Laprea's biggest edge is scope and sequence transparency. The cover tells you the exact pattern the book targets. That's useful for parents and tutors who aren't reading specialists, because you can line the books up against a phonics checklist and know exactly where your child sits.

The books are competently illustrated and the stories hold a young reader's attention, though they're less polished than some pricier school-market series. That's a fair trade at the price.

One honest caveat: no decodable series has been through a large-scale randomized controlled trial as a standalone product. The research support for decodable books as a category is strong ^[4], but head-to-head studies between specific series don't really exist. Any series that tightly controls its patterns and follows a systematic scope and sequence should produce similar results. The gap between good series is much smaller than the gap between using decodable books and skipping them.

How do you use Laprea decodable books at home effectively?

The most common mistake parents make is handing over the book and hoping. Decodable books are practice tools, not self-teaching tools. Before a child opens a new book, spend five to ten minutes reviewing the patterns it targets. Flash the sounds on a whiteboard, tap out the phonemes in a few sample words, run a quick word sort. Then open the book.

When the child reads aloud, don't let guessing slide. If they see "ship" and say "boat" because a boat is in the picture, stop them gently and point to the letters. The whole point of decodable text is that the child doesn't need the picture to read the word. Let them enjoy the pictures for meaning, not as a decoding crutch.

After reading, do something brief with the words. Write three words from the book on index cards and ask the child to read them cold, out of context. This checks whether real decoding is happening or whether the child is memorizing whole words. A kid who reads "drip" on a card but not inside a sentence tells you something different than a kid who stumbles on it both places.

Reread the same books several times. This feels counterintuitive because we link rereading with boredom, but rereading decodable text builds the word-reading automaticity that fluency needs. Aim for three reads of each book across different days before moving up a level.

Pair the books with explicit phonics teaching if you're homeschooling or supplementing school. ReadFlare's free reading tools can help you track where your child sits in a phonics sequence and pick the right Laprea level to start from. Using sight word flashcards alongside the books handles the few irregular high-frequency words that even decodable series must include.

One practical note on dolch sight words: most decodable series, Laprea included, pre-teach a small set of irregular high-frequency words so stories flow. Words like "the," "was," and "said" don't fully decode with standard rules. Laprea introduces these explicitly before they appear, but your child has to have them memorized. A two-minute nightly review of the current level's high-frequency words makes a real difference.

What does research say about decodable books for dyslexia?

The case for decodable books rests on several layers of evidence, not one study on the books themselves.

Start with the phonological deficit hypothesis, the most replicated finding in dyslexia research. Children with dyslexia have specific weaknesses in phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid phonological retrieval ^[5]. Those weaknesses make the letter-to-sound mapping process harder and slower. Decodable books are built to give those kids high-repetition practice with exactly the patterns they're working on, hitting the core deficit head-on.

Next, Ehri's phases of word reading development (2005) show that accurate, automatic word reading grows through alphabetic decoding practice, not through sight memorization or context guessing ^[6]. Controlled decodable text creates the conditions for that alphabetic practice to happen.

Third, a 2022 analysis by the Reading League found that early reading programs using decodable texts produced stronger decoding outcomes than programs leaning on leveled, predictable texts ^[4]. "Students who receive systematic phonics instruction with decodable text practice show significantly better word reading accuracy than those who rely on meaning-based strategies," the Reading League's curriculum guidelines state ^[4].

Fourth, IDEA 2004 (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) requires schools to use evidence-based practices when teaching reading to students with learning disabilities ^[7]. Structured literacy programs that include decodable text meet that bar. If your child has an IEP for a reading disability, you can and should ask what decodable reading practice they get as part of their services. IDEA entitles you to that information ^[7].

Nobody has good data on whether Laprea specifically beats other rigorous decodable series. The closest evidence is category-level, and it's consistent: the quality of the phonics scope and sequence and the tightness of pattern control matter far more than the brand on the cover.

How do Laprea books fit into an IEP or school-based reading program?

If your child has an IEP for a reading disability, their special education teacher or reading specialist is responsible for evidence-based reading instruction, which under IDEA 2004 means instruction grounded in reading science ^[7]. Decodable books are a standard part of structured literacy programs like Wilson Reading System, Barton, and Orton-Gillingham derivatives, all widely used in IEP settings.

Laprea books are not a structured literacy program on their own. They're a supplement. A school running a real structured literacy intervention will usually use the decodable readers built into that program (Wilson has its own, Barton has its own). Laprea works best as a home reinforcement of what school teaches, or as a primary tool for parents and tutors running phonics instruction on their own.

If your child's school uses no decodable books at all, raise it. Under IDEA, you can request an explanation of the evidence base for the reading instruction your child receives ^[7]. If the school leans on a three-cueing system or guided reading with leveled texts as the primary intervention for a child with a reading disability, you're within your rights to ask whether that meets the evidence-based standard. The research is not on the side of three-cueing for students with phonological deficits ^[8].

For parents heading into IEP meetings, the ReadFlare parent advocacy kit has templates for requesting specific reading interventions and asking about evidence bases. Knowing program names like Wilson, Barton, or RAVE-O turns an abstract argument into a concrete one.

If you're unsure whether your child has a diagnosable disability or a big instructional gap, the first step is a learning disabilities screening, which the school must conduct on your request under IDEA's Child Find provisions ^[7].

Where can you buy Laprea Education decodable books and what do they cost?

Laprea Education sells directly through their website at laprea.com. They also sell through Teachers Pay Teachers, where individual book PDFs and printable sets run cheaper than physical books. Physical books cost roughly $4 to $7 each. Sets range from about $30 to $80, depending on the level and book count. Digital print-and-use versions on Teachers Pay Teachers usually run $3 to $5 per level set.

For home use, the print-and-use option is worth a look. You can print the same book on cardstock as many times as you want and laminate a travel copy, which stretches the value. The trade-off: physical books are easier for young hands to hold and feel more like real reading, which some kids respond to better.

Buying a full level set at once beats buying single books on price, and it lets you spread reading across several books that share the same patterns. Research suggests that helps: more varied decodable text at one skill level builds broader pattern recognition than rereading a single book ^[6].

Laprea runs sales, especially during back-to-school season in August and September. Their email list is the easiest way to catch those.

For the high-frequency words that show up in Laprea books, first grade sight words lists and printable sight words worksheets make good free companions. You don't need a separate high-frequency word program if your child reads decodable books consistently. The exposure from the books, plus a little explicit review, is usually enough.

What are the limitations of Laprea decodable books?

Honest answer: they're a tool, and tools have limits.

The books work when the child has been explicitly taught the patterns first. They fail when a parent hands them over with no instruction. A child who's never been taught that "sh" makes one sound will still struggle with a book labeled "sh/ch/th digraphs," no matter how well the text is controlled.

The story content, while decent, is simple. For a highly verbal or curious child, the stories can feel thin. That's a real buy-in problem, especially with older struggling readers who already feel embarrassed about reading. It doesn't disqualify the books, but it means you have to be deliberate about how you present them. Framing them as "practice" instead of "your reading book" helps.

The books also skew toward the early end of the phonics sequence. By the time a child hits advanced patterns like Latin suffixes, multisyllabic word strategies, and morpheme-based reading, they've often outgrown what decodable readers offer. At that stage, high-interest decodable passages or chapter-book decodable series (from Really Great Reading or Flyleaf) fit better.

Decodable books also don't build vocabulary or knowledge the way rich literature does. They're not meant to. Reading for knowledge and reading for decoding practice do different cognitive jobs, and kids need both. Balance a steady diet of Laprea books with read-alouds, discussion, and content-area texts read to or with the child, even before independent decoding is there.

If you suspect a dyslexia font might help your child engage with print, that's a separate question worth exploring alongside the book choice.

How do you know which Laprea level to start at?

Start with a quick phonics inventory, not a reading level test. Reading level tests (Lexile scores, DRA levels, guided reading levels) measure text difficulty, not phonics skill. You need to know which specific letter-sound patterns your child can reliably decode, not what grade-level text they can handle.

A phonics skills checklist is a one- or two-page grid listing patterns in sequence, with a spot to mark whether the child reads each one accurately and consistently. Plenty are free from university extension sites and structured literacy organizations. Go down the list, present a few real or nonsense words for each pattern, and note where accuracy drops below about 90 percent. That's your starting level.

Example: a child who reads short-vowel CVC words cleanly but stumbles on blends ("drip," "slab," "frost") belongs in Laprea Level 2, working on blends. Level 1 would bore them. Level 3 would frustrate them.

If your child has had a formal reading evaluation, the report often includes a phonics subtest score (the CTOPP-2, GORT-5, or the WIAT-4 phonics subtest are common instruments). The pattern breakdown from those subtests maps straight to a phonics scope and sequence, which maps to a Laprea level ^[9].

When in doubt, start one level below where you think they belong. Fluency at a slightly easier level builds confidence, and confidence matters for kids who've already failed at reading. Moving up once accuracy is solid takes a week or two. Recovering from a discouraging run of too-hard text takes much longer.

Frequently asked questions

Are Laprea Education decodable books good for kids with dyslexia?

Yes, for kids who've been explicitly taught the phonics patterns the books target. Dyslexia research consistently shows struggling decoders need more controlled decodable practice, not less. Laprea's books are well-controlled and clearly labeled by skill. They work best alongside a structured literacy program like Wilson Reading or Barton, not as a standalone fix.

What phonics program do Laprea books pair best with?

Laprea books pair with any systematic, explicit phonics program on a similar scope and sequence: All About Reading, Barton Reading and Spelling, Wilson Reading System, Logic of English, or Explode the Code. The program teaches the skills first; the Laprea books supply the reading practice. Check that your program's sequence matches the level order in Laprea's series.

How is Laprea different from BOB Books?

BOB Books are a fine early entry point, but they stop around the CVC and basic blend level. Laprea's series runs through vowel teams, diphthongs, and r-controlled vowels, covering more of the phonics scope a child needs to read on their own. BOB Books get a child started; Laprea carries them further through the sequence.

Can I use Laprea books without a reading specialist?

Yes, but you have to do the explicit phonics teaching first. Find a free phonics scope and sequence, teach each pattern directly with a whiteboard or letter tiles, then use the matching Laprea book as practice. If your child makes very slow progress or forgets patterns quickly, that's a signal to seek a formal evaluation. No book series replaces professional assessment.

Do Laprea decodable books include sight words?

Yes. Like all decodable series, Laprea pre-teaches a small set of irregular high-frequency words before they appear. Words like "the," "was," and "said" can't be fully decoded with standard rules. Laprea introduces them explicitly at each level. Review them before opening a new book so they don't interrupt the reading flow.

My child's school doesn't use decodable books. Can I ask them to?

You can, and there's a legal basis for the conversation. IDEA 2004 requires reading instruction for students with learning disabilities to be evidence-based. If your child has an IEP, ask in writing what evidence supports the reading methods in use. If the school leans on leveled readers or three-cueing, you can request that decodable text practice be added to the IEP as a specific service.

How many times should my child reread a Laprea book before moving on?

Aim for three reads across different days before moving to the next book. The first read builds accuracy, the second familiarity, the third fluency. Don't wait for perfect fluency, but don't rush either. If a child still misses more than about one word in ten on the third read, stay at that level longer or add word practice before the next session.

Are there decodable books for older kids who still struggle with phonics?

Laprea's content skews young visually and thematically, which is a problem for older struggling readers. For middle schoolers and up, look at decodable passage sets from Barton Reading System, Wilson's Fundations, or Really Great Reading's Bridge, all written for older learners. The phonics principles are identical; the content is age-appropriate.

What is the difference between a decodable book and a leveled reader?

A leveled reader (Guided Reading or DRA systems) is matched to a child's overall reading level, which usually mixes simple and complex phonics patterns. A decodable book controls exactly which patterns appear, so every word sits inside the child's taught knowledge. For struggling decoders, leveled readers force guessing from pictures and context; decodable books require actual phonics. That gap drives very different outcomes.

Do Laprea decodable books work for English language learners?

They can, with caveats. The phonics principles are the same for any child learning to read English. But ELL students may lack the oral vocabulary for words they decode, so they read a word correctly without knowing it. Pair Laprea books with vocabulary pre-teaching for the story's key words, and use plenty of picture discussion before and after reading so comprehension keeps pace with decoding.

How do I know if my child is using phonics or just memorizing the books?

Write three to five words from the current book on index cards and show them out of context. If the child read "ship" in the book but can't read it on the card, they memorized it from context or pictures instead of decoding. Also try similar words the book didn't use, like "chip" or "whip" if the book targets "sh." Transfer to new words is the real test of phonics learning.

Are Laprea books available in Spanish?

As of mid-2025, Laprea Education's main catalog is in English. For Spanish decodable books, look at series like Cuentos Decodificables from various structured literacy publishers or the Lectura Decodificable line. Spanish orthography is more regular than English, so its scope and sequence differs, and you'll want books designed for Spanish rather than translated English ones.

What should I do if my child gets frustrated with decodable books?

First, check the level. Frustration usually means the book is too hard, which means the phonics instruction hasn't fully landed. Drop back one level and rebuild fluency there. If the level is right but the child resists, try shorter sessions (five to eight minutes), let them pick which book to read, and make sure decodable reading is only part of a session that also includes a fun read-aloud where they decode nothing.

Sources

1. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Report of the National Reading Panel (2000): Systematic, explicit phonics instruction produces significantly better reading outcomes than incidental or embedded phonics approaches
2. Kilpatrick, D.A. (2015). Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties. Wiley.: Struggling readers need intensive phonological and phonemic awareness training combined with decodable text practice to build word recognition automaticity
3. Gough, P.B. and Tunmer, W.E. (1986). Decoding, Reading, and Reading Disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 6-10.: The Simple View of Reading frames reading comprehension as the product of decoding ability and language comprehension
4. The Reading League, Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines (2022): Students who receive systematic phonics instruction with decodable text practice show significantly better word reading accuracy than those who rely on meaning-based strategies
5. Shaywitz, S.E. and Shaywitz, B.A. (2005). Dyslexia: Specific Reading Disability. Biological Psychiatry, 57(11), 1301-1309.: Children with dyslexia have specific weaknesses in phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid phonological retrieval
6. Ehri, L.C. (2005). Learning to Read Words: Theory, Findings, and Issues. Scientific Studies of Reading, 9(2), 167-188.: Accurate, automatic word reading develops through alphabetic decoding practice; varied decodable text at the same skill level builds broader pattern recognition
7. U.S. Department of Education, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.: IDEA 2004 requires schools to use evidence-based practices in reading instruction for students with learning disabilities and mandates Child Find screening on parental request
8. Seidenberg, M.S., Cooper Borkenhagen, M., and Kearns, D.M. (2020). Lost in Translation? Challenges in Connecting Reading Science and Educational Practice. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S119-S130.: Three-cueing systems are not supported by the research base for students with phonological deficits
9. Pearson Clinical, Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Fourth Edition (WIAT-4): The WIAT-4 phonics subtest breakdown maps to a phonics scope and sequence and can be used to determine appropriate decodable text level
10. U.S. Department of Education, What Works Clearinghouse: Systematic Phonics Instruction: What Works Clearinghouse evidence reviews support systematic phonics instruction as having strong evidence of effectiveness for early reading
11. International Dyslexia Association, Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading (2018): Structured literacy programs incorporating decodable text are the recommended approach for students with dyslexia per IDA knowledge and practice standards