Children’s phonics book cover reading “Gecko Has a Can,” featuring a smiling green gecko holding a can of Spam.
Children’s phonics book cover titled “Learn to Read with Geckos in Hawaii,” featuring cartoon geckos, balloons, letters, and text about short vowels, decodable text, and beginning readers.
Children's book cover titled “Gecko in a Dress,” featuring a smiling gecko in a red flower-patterned dress; subtitle “Learn to Read with Short Vowel E.”
Children’s book cover titled “Gecko and Frog,” featuring two cartoon characters and the subtitle “Learn to Read with Short Vowel O.”
Children’s book cover titled “Gecko and Pig: Learn to Read with Short Vowel I,” featuring cartoon gecko and pig characters fishing.
Children’s book cover titled “Gecko in a Truck,” featuring a smiling gecko riding in an orange truck with a surfboard.

Learn to Read with Geckos in Hawai‘i

illustrated by Jon J. Murakami, edited by Maile Ostrem

A boxed set of 5 softcover books for beginning readers.

Start your keiki on their reading journey with these five phonics-based books that focus on learning short vowel sounds in three- and four-letter words. Each book begins with an overview of consonant sounds, a list of letter blends, and a list of sight words used in the story.

Phonics teaches children how to connect letters with their corresponding sounds, which helps them decode words. By learning the sounds of individual letters and letter combinations, kids can begin to sound out unfamiliar words. This skill lays the foundation for fluency in reading and spelling, as children start to recognize word patterns and understand how words are built. Over time, phonics helps them develop stronger reading comprehension by enabling them to read more confidently and independently.

Verdana, a sans-serif font, was used for the text of these stories to make it easier to read for kids with dyslexia, and the engaging, silly, and fun illustrations by local artist Jon J. Murakami capture the spirit of everyday life in Hawai‘i and offer visual cues to help reading comprehension and spark imagination.

Keiki will enjoy reading them over and over again as they practice their short vowels.

5 books
Each book is 5 x 6 inches, 16 pages
$15.95
ISBN 978-1-949000-56-6

Order
  • Children’s phonics chart showing consonants B, C, D, F, G, H, L, M, N, P, R, and S with sounds and illustrations of a bee, cat, dog, fish, gecko, hat, leaf, mouse, net, pig, rabbit, and star.
  • Phonics worksheet titled “Letter Combinations” showing short-a CVC word endings, digraphs ck and th, beginning blends gl and sp, ending blend st, and a turtle illustration for the word “turtle.”
  • Educational reading worksheet explaining sight words and short A vowels, with example words including “a,” “gecko,” “in,” “is,” “of,” “on,” and “the.”
  • Cartoon gecko holding a can labeled “SPAM,” with the caption “Gecko has a can.”
  • Cartoon character running while holding a blue hat; another blue hat lies on a mat, with text reading “The hat is on a mat.”