Minecraft Books for 2nd Graders

Ned is bored, bored, BORED - until The Book shows him how to turn sticky honey into soft golden blocks that catch you when you fall. But what happens when Ned decides one small jump is not nearly enough? Can a super-tall tower, a flat patch of ground, and a very nervous Book keep one brave boy safe? Climb up and find out! This decodable reader practises 2-syllable open words such as ‘cosy,’ ‘open,’ ’tiny,’ ‘maybe,’ and ‘ocean.’

Zom the zombie is tired of his neighbours who only want to shuffle, groan, and moan about brains. Isn’t there someone more fun out there? When a gentle buzzing leads him to a busy beehive full of potential new pals, Zom is thrilled - but will the bees want to be friends with a clumsy zombie? And what happens when his big idea for saying hello goes very, very wrong? This decodable reader practises le/al/el/il words such as ‘gentle,’ ’little,’ ‘cattle,’ ‘bundle,’ and ‘stumbles.’

Dive in and sail east across the Minecraft world - have you ever wondered what lies beneath those endless blue waves? From warm seas where fish weave through kelp to bleak frozen chunks of ice, every ocean hides something different. Which mobs swim in peace, and which ones might be a threat? Can you help keep our real oceans healthy too? This decodable reader practises the ’ea’ phonogram in words like ‘beach,’ ‘clean,’ ‘heat,’ and ‘reach.’

Deep in an old, forgotten mine, brave Fig Pig marches in with his little lamp beaming and a pickaxe swung high. But what happens when he spots a chest full of gold, a sleeping beast the size of a wheelbarrow, and a narrow rail stretched across bubbling lava? Will he reach the great black coal he dreams of, or will something at the entrance send him running? This decodable reader practises the ’ea’ sound in words like ‘beam,’ ‘dream,’ ‘reach,’ and ‘scream.’

Ned is a brave fighter, but every monster battle leaves him covered in bumps and bruises! To stay safer, he needs leather armour - and that means catching cows. But have you ever tried sneaking up on a cow? They scatter, they run, and something green and lumpy might be creeping close behind. Can Ned become a quiet enough hunter to finally gather what he needs? This decodable reader practises suffixes in words such as ‘bravely,’ ‘faster,’ ‘hunter,’ ‘proudly,’ and ‘softly.’

Zom’s pumpkins are the biggest, plumpest crop he’s ever grown, and he’s already dreaming of the delicious cakes he’ll bake. But when one pumpkin vanishes overnight without a single footprint left behind, his suspicion grows. Who - or what - is sneaking through the patch after dark? Can Zom and Skel stake out the garden and catch the mysterious thief before every last pumpkin disappears? This decodable reader practises ci/si/ti making /sh/ in words such as ‘attention,’ ‘delicious,’ ‘suspicion,’ and ‘determination.’

When Skel’s house gets too crowded for a skeleton to catch a quiet nap, Zom offers a deal: go on a trip, and he’ll build an amazing add-on while pet-sitting Bones and Starfang. But can a grumpy spider learn to trust a new room? And will Zom really finish the whole house, or just the spookiest entrance ever seen? This decodable reader practises vowel team syllables in words such as ‘quiet,’ ‘create,’ ‘giant,’ ‘ruin,’ and ’triumph.’

Jack has never caught a fish - not one, not ever - but today feels different. With a bent oak branch, a bit of string, and Meow padding beside him along the coast, he casts his line into the foam and waits. But what happens when the line yanks back hard, and the thing he pulls from the sea is definitely not a fish? This decodable reader practises the ‘oa’ sound in words like ‘boat,’ ‘coast,’ ‘foam,’ ‘oak,’ and ‘road.’

Have you ever wandered across the wide, green plains of Minecraft? Cows munch grass, pigs snuffle along, and horses gallop in every direction you can see. You might spot sunflowers swaying in the sun, or fish leaping in a quiet lake. But what happens when too many hooves trample the same patch of ground? Can a clever farmer keep the land healthy for all? This decodable reader practises the ai/ay phonogram in words such as ‘may,’ ‘plains,’ ‘stay,’ ’trail,’ and ‘raise.’

Dr. Can Do’s workshop is a disaster - you can’t even see the floor! Can one very grumpy inventor actually tidy up without getting distracted? When he spots a huge pile of stone he’ll never use, he hatches a wild plan involving lava, redstone, and a clever disposal device. But will tidying really stick, or will the mess creep back? This decodable reader practises the ‘ow’ sound with lesson words like ‘blow,’ ‘glow,’ ‘scowl,’ ‘howl,’ and ’throw.’