Elizabeth Nonweiler is the author of two sets of decodables. Each set consists of 12 books.
They are also available from Amazon and Waterstones.
This online bookshop gives plenty of info. about the books including a couple of page spreads
http://spaldingbooks.tbpcontrol.co.uk/T ... n=11984659
Here's Elizabeth's own description
The concept the books are based on is probably unique. Each page has a caption that is likely to be unfamiliar to children and unlikely to be guessed by anyone, even if they can read English easily. For example, there is a picture in the 'Lunch' book with the caption, 'cod and chips', so if they guessed 'fish and chips' they would be wrong. Other examples from 'Lunch' are 'chakalaka' and 'tom yum goong'.
It is all non-fiction and the illustrations are photographs. The guidance at the front of the book is
1. Look at the picture.
2. Read the word.
3. Talk about it.
with more detail for each of those headings.
After 12 pages of photos with captions, there is a double page spread of 'Interesting Facts' about the words and pictures on each page, for the teachers and parents to read and talk about with the pupil.
After that, there is a page showing which letter-sound correspondences are included in the book. The books are meant for consolidation after all the correspondences in the captions have been taught and practised. If pupils cannot be expected to know how to pronounce a grapheme, when they have learned the common correspondences taught at the beginning of a good phonics programme, that grapheme is not included. The most obvious example is 'ow', so there are no words with 'ow'.
There are two levels with twelve books in each. The letter-sound correspondences that are included are linked to the sections of the Phonics Check, but that is not written in the books, to avoid limiting their use. The degree of complexity according to consonant blends and number of syllables has not been taken into account. However, they would be good for consolidation before the Check. One of the aims is to show that children do not need to practise reading nonsense words to succeed with the Check. They will get the necessary practice by reading words like those in these books.
Another aim of the books is to help teachers understand the Simple View of Reading, but without describing it. Pupils practise decoding words and then develop language comprehension through discussion.
On top of this, the hope is that pupils will be interested in the pictures and words and develop their knowledge and understanding of the world. Stereotypes about gender roles have been avoided and the words and photos come from a range of cultures and places across the world - as well as one book about Stars and Planets. Raintree has done a brilliant job of making them look attractive.
There is nothing baby-ish in the books and a couple of people who work in secondary schools have said they would be useful for secondary school pupils who need practice with phonics. Someone who is involved with teaching English as a foreign language said they would be useful there, for helping with pronunciation of words in written English.