ELT Readers Guide

Readers help build vocabulary and improve reading skills

Series for Young Learners

Tall Tales
Beautifully illustrated low-cost readers for younger children.

Oxford Progressive English Readers

Oxford Storyland Readers
A primary reading series for young learners. Graded according to twelve levels of reading ability. Original stories for young learners.

Each reader in the series includes puzzles every four pages which provide reinforcement of the content. Comprehension-type questions are provided at the end of the book to check the learners' global and specific understanding of the story.

The books at levels 7-12 are more factual . The aim of this is to relate to the learners' own experience and encourage a genuine interest in reading.

Oxford Bookworms
One of the best series of readers. Many of the titles at the lower levels are suitable for young learners including the following:

David Copperfield (Oxford Bookworms Library Classics)

Cries from the Heart: Stories from Around the World: 700 Headwords (Oxford Bookworms Library)

Cambridge Storybook Readers

  • Original and varied stories for the classroom and at home
  • Illustrations by different artists appeal to young learners
  • Simple words, repeated frequently
  • Develop children’s listening and speaking skills through storytelling and increase their confidence
  • Rhythm and rhyme help children remember more easily
  • Plays allow children to act out the stories
  • Teacher’s Books & audio resources are available
  • Four levels of Cambridge Storybooks
  • 18 books at each level

Penguin Young Readers
Four levels from age 5 to 11.

Younger Children

The Lion & the Mouse * Where is Lance? * The Princess & the Pea
Beautifully illustrated low-cost readers with audiobook & activities.
Why? Starter/Beginner by Philip Prowse
We're Going on a Picnic ELT Edition (Cambridge Storybooks)

The Chinese New Year (Cambridge Storybooks)

Age 8-12

The Secret Garden
The Chinese New Year ELT Edition (Cambridge Storybooks)

Cambridge Plays: The Story of Running Water (Cambridge Storybooks)

Oxford Storyland Readers: The Younger Brother

Five Short Plays (Oxford Bookworms Library)

Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Oxford Bookworms, Level 1)

Stranger Than Fiction: Urban Myths (Penguin Longman Penguin Readers)

Young Adult

Oxford Bookworms Factfiles: Stage 3: 1,000 Headwords Recycling
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Oxford Bookworms Library)
The Signalman: AND The Ghost at the Trial (Macmillan Reader)
Love by Design: (Macmillan Reader)
 No Longer at Ease: Intermediate (Macmillan Reader)
The Last Sherlock Holmes Story: Stage 3 (Oxford Bookworms Library)
A Morbid Taste for Bones: 1400 Headwords (Oxford Bookworms Library)
 Rebecca (Macmillan ELT Reader & CD Pack)

About readers

... Reading is no different from other learned human abilities such as driving, cooking, playing golf, or riding a bicycle: the more you do it, the more fluent and skilful you become...'
Julian Bamford (Bunkyo University) Richard R. Day (University of Hawaii)

Graded Readers are books specially prepared for language learners. Some are original stories and some adaptations of classics. They offer an authentic reading experience but are shortened simplified to make them more accessible to English language learners and reluctant readers.

A guide to the theory of Extensive Reading can be found on this page - for more information go to the Extensive Reading site.
Order Graded Readers