I recently purchased the Mel on Mars decodable series along with the corresponding activity book, and it has been a fantastic addition to my resources. While I’ve used many other series from Phonic Books, I was particularly drawn to this one for my older developing readers. The chapter book format and high-interest content make it especially appealing, while the structured progression—from CVC and CVCC words to adjacent consonants, consonant digraphs and suffixes like -ing and -ed—ensures a solid foundation in phonics.

The space-themed illustrations have been a huge hit with my pupils, keeping them engaged and motivated. The accompanying activity book offers a range of practical activities that reinforce learning, including word building, dictation, reading and writing captions, sequencing, story retelling, and comprehension tasks.

I highly recommend the Mel on Mars series for developing readers; it strikes the perfect balance between structure and engagement, making phonics practice both effective and enjoyable