Episode 25 · Phases
Books They'll Actually Read: Our Favorite Books and Reading Tech for Kids

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Episode summary
What this conversation covers
In this episode, Dr. Courtney Tolinski and her husband, Scott, share their favorite books, apps and tech for reading that they recommend for preschool and elementary aged kids. Dr. Courtney also shares her favorite books for special topics, such as neurodiversity, social/emotional development and growth mindset.
Preschool
- Busytown books
- Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
- Hotrod Hamster
- Dragons Love Tacos & High Five series
- How to Catch Books
- The Gruffalo / Room on the Broom
- Peppa Pig Series
- Bluey Books
- You Can Do it - Sesame Street
- Little People, Big Dreams
- Beautiful Oops
- The Little Engine that Could
- Pete the Cat series
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- Lift the Flap Books: First 100 Animals ; Q&A About Dinosaurs , etc.
- Little Kids First Big Book of Why
- I Can Read Phonics Boxes
Early Elementary (K-2)
- I Can Read Level Books
- Graphic Novels: Elephant & Piggy Series
- Dog Man Series
- Captain Underpants
- Babysitters Little Sister
- Narwhal & Jelly
- Bird & Squirrel
- Eerie Elementary
- Magic Tree House
- Junie B Jones
- Amelia Bedelia
- Wild Robot
- Mercy Watson Series
Reading Apps/Devices
- Sora App (Audio Books / Library books for kids)
- Epic Books (Leveled DRA / Audio Books)
- Tonie Box or Yoto Player
- Kindle Colorsoft for Kids
Upper Elementary (3-5)
- Last Kids on Earth
- I Survived
- My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish
- Big Nate
- Comics - Marvel ; Calvin and Hobbes
- Wayside school
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Judy Blume Fudge Series
- Baby Sitters Club
- Wings of Fire
- National Park Mystery Series
- The Way Things Work
Special Topics
- ADHD/Autism: Its Hard to Be A Verb ; I Have Ants in My Pants ; My Mouth is a Volcano ; Uniquely Wired all by Julia Cook
- Growth Mindset: Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by Joann Deak
- Neurodiversity: Wonderfully Wired Brains by Luise Gooding
- Anxiety/Perfectionism: The Girl who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett & Gary Rubenstein
- Emotions: The Color Monster by Anna Lleanas
Have a question for Dr. Courtney? Submit it here and we may answer it in the next Q&A.
These notes come from the official Phases podcast feed. View the publisher’s original episode page
From the show notes
Resources mentioned in this episode
These links come directly from the official episode notes. Retailer links may be affiliate links.
- Busytown books
- Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
- Hotrod Hamster
- Dragons Love Tacos
- High Five
- How to Catch Books
- The Gruffalo
- Room on the Broom
- Bluey Books
- You Can Do it - Sesame Street
- Little People, Big Dreams
- Beautiful Oops
- The Little Engine that Could
- Pete the Cat series
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- First 100 Animals
- Q&A About Dinosaurs
- Little Kids First Big Book of Why
- I Can Read Phonics Boxes
- I Can Read Level Books
- Elephant & Piggy Series
- Dog Man Series
- Captain Underpants
- Babysitters Little Sister
- Narwhal & Jelly
- Bird & Squirrel
- Creepy Underwear
- Very Impatient Caterpillar
- Fly Guy Series
- The Questioneers Series - e.g. Rosie Revere; Ada Twist Scientist
- Search and Find Books
- Where is Claris?
- Where's Waldo?
- Eerie Elementary
- Magic Tree House
- Junie B Jones
- Amelia Bedelia
- Wild Robot
- Mercy Watson Series
- Sora App
- Epic Books
- Tonie Box
- Yoto Player
- Kindle Colorsoft for Kids
- Last Kids on Earth
- I Survived
- My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish
- Big Nate
- Marvel
- Calvin and Hobbes
- Wayside school
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Judy Blume Fudge Series
- Baby Sitters Club
- Wings of Fire
- National Park Mystery Series
- The Way Things Work
- Its Hard to Be A Verb
- I Have Ants in My Pants
- My Mouth is a Volcano
- Uniquely Wired
- Your Fantastic Elastic Brain
- Wonderfully Wired Brains
- The Color Monster