Moonlit Mountain Readers

Discipline: Literacy

Grade(s): K-2

Delivery Method: Print 

Imprint: Mossflower Press

Moonlit Mountain Readers

Fantasy Decodable Books

The Moonlit Mountain Readers combine captivating stories with intentional phonics practice, bridging the gap between the enchanting worlds of fantasy and the foundational skills of early literacy. 

From the Scottish Highlands with Nox, a lovable Loch Ness Monster, to a futuristic city with Ro-Bo 7 and her robot family, The Moonlit Mountain Readers immerse children in a collection of imaginative worlds.

With compelling visual storytelling guided by spectacular artists, this series invites readers to fall in love with these mythical creatures, anthropomorphic animals, and fantastical landscapes—all while building the skills and confidence to become lifelong readers.

Phonics Progression

The 90 Moonlit Mountain Readers titles are grouped into 13 irresistible character-centric series that encourage readers to keep reading, from one book to the next. Each story within a series presents readers with familiar characters and the next part of their epic adventure!

Each book provides concentrated decoding practice with new phonics features, building skills step by step.

  • Set A introduces foundational skills
  • Set B expands into advanced phonics and multisyllabic words
  • Cumulative review books within each series provide landing points to consolidate learning, reinforcing earlier concepts without adding new ones.

Overall, the Moonlit Mountain Readers supports a steady, staircase-like progression through phonics and decoding challenges.

Alignment to Jump Rope Readers

Benefits and Features

High Decodability and Readability

Over 70% of the text is decodable and more than 90% is readable. This high level of decodability and readability aligns with best practices and research that says that beginner books should strike a balance between phonetically regular words and irregular high-frequency words.

Systematic Phonics Instruction

Ensures a structured and cumulative approach to phonics, allowing children to build foundational decoding skills progressively.

Scope and Sequence of High-Frequency Words

The Moonlit Mountain Readers have a scope and sequence that ensures systematic teaching of decoding skills, phonics concepts, and high-frequency words.

Cumulative Review Books

Specific books within the series focus on cumulative review to help reinforce previously learned skills without introducing new ones, ensuring steady progress and supporting long-term retention of phonics skills.

Phonics Boxes and Bold Print

The inside front cover of each decodable book clearly displays letter-sound correspondences and high-frequency words, with bold print indicating new concepts. 

Comprehensive Book Introductions

Another ease-of-use feature on the inside front cover, this guides educators, parents, and caregivers in introducing new books, including previews of storylines and non-decodable words.

Phonics “Warm Up” Activities

Included on the inside front cover, these activities provide targeted decoding practice before reading to help students focus on specific phonics skills in isolation before reading.

Talk About the Book Section

Also on the inside front cover, this section encourages discussions about the text via a list of literal, inferential, and evaluative text-dependent questions that help promote comprehension and critical thinking.