New Ready to Read Phonics Plus books out now
14 July 2025
A set of six new Ready to Read Phonics Plus books are out now, adding to the resources that are already available to help you bring structured literacy approaches into the classroom.
We’ve sent physical copies of the books straight to primary schools and kura using The New Zealand Curriculum, and you can find the digital versions here:
- The Pin Tin – Kākano 1
- Wish Wish Wish – Kākano 3
- Boss of the Hill – Tupu 1
- On the Ridge – Tupu 1
- A Theme Tune – Tupu 2
- Drawing in the Forest – Rākau
You can refer to the updated Book Phase Overviews on Tāhūrangi to find out where the new books fit in the suggested teaching order.
New Big Book version of At the Marae
A newly re-sized big book version of the small student book At the Marae is also accompanying this release. At the Marae has been re-sized so that it can be used for the purpose of “Reading with” students. The small student reader version of At the Marae will not be reprinted. The Ministry has made this decision due to the high number of words that appear in the text in te reo Māori. Te reo Māori vowel sounds are different than English, making this book less appropriate for students to practice decoding words containing grapheme-phoneme correspondences that have already been taught. The teaching notes in the back of At the Marae have been updated so that teachers can confidently use the new big book format to support structured approaches to literacy. We’ve sent physical copies of the new big book straight to primary schools and kura using The New Zealand Curriculum, and you can find the digital version here:
Supporting resource: Ready to Read Phonics Plus Te Reo Māori Kete cards
At the Marae provides opportunities to explore tikanga, or protocols, when visiting a marae, and promotes the use of te reo Māori in the classroom. Use the Ready to Read Phonics Plus Te Reo Māori Kete cards (sent to schools in 2023) to introduce new kupu Māori and explore the whakapapa of terms in the book. A sequencing activity using the cards is included in the updated teaching notes. Replacement copies of the Ready to Read Phonics Plus Te Reo Māori Kete cards may be ordered from the Down the Back of the Chair website.