- Rachel Sorsel
Welcome to Alphabet City where phonics concepts come to life
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Alphabet City Series turns tricky phonics and spelling concepts into memorable stories, playful visuals, and teachable moments. Each book introduces a specific concept through a distinct character or story idea so educators can make abstract skills easier to explain, revisit, and remember.
- Overview
A story world built around phonics concepts
Alphabet City Series helps children and educators understand phonics and spelling concepts through stories that give each idea a visual identity. Instead of treating rules like isolated facts, the collection makes them easier to remember by turning them into recurring ideas, characters, and scenes. The result is a set of books that supports literacy conversations in a way that feels playful, visual, and easy to revisit.
- Concept-based literacy support
- Memorable visuals and titles
- Useful for read-alouds and mini-lessons
- Built to help explain tricky ideas more clearly
- THE BOOKS
Six books. Six memorable literacy concepts.
BOOK 3 OF 6
Schwa in First Grade
Concept focus: What the schwa sound is and where we can find it
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BOOK 4 OF 6
The Short Vowel Protectors
Concept focus: How we spell words to retain a short vowel sound
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BOOK 6 OF 6
V is for Volcano
Concept focus: How and why words cannot end in V, J, U, or I
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BOOK 5 OF 6
Silent E Goes to Work
Concept focus: The 9 jobs of Silent E
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BOOK 1 OF 6
And Sometimes Y
Concept focus: Y as a vowel or a consonant, and what each job entails
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BOOK 2 OF 6
When C Met G
Concept focus: C and G both spell more than one sound
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Designed to make tricky concepts easier to remember
Each book in the series helps children make sense of abstract phonics ideas through visual storytelling. The concepts form a connected pathway through Alphabet City.
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Meet Rachel Sorsel
Rachel Sorsel brings a playful, instructional lens to early literacy through books that help children and educators talk about phonics concepts in more visual and memorable ways. Alphabet City Series reflects that approach by pairing clear literacy ideas with imaginative titles and approachable storytelling.
Helping literacy concepts feel less abstract and more teachable.
Free Alphabet City Phonics Posters
Seven classroom posters by Rachel Sorsel that turn tricky phonics rules into characters your students will actually remember.
You'll also get new books, free printables, and literacy inspiration from Express Readers. Unsubscribe anytime.
- CLASSROOM USE
Ways to use Alphabet City in literacy instruction
The series adapts easily to read-alouds, small group instruction, review cycles, and
family conversations.
- Use the books as read-aloud introductions for a focused phonics or spelling concept.
- Bring them into small group instruction to reinforce a concept students are actively learning.
- Use them during review cycles when students need a more memorable way to revisit a rule.
- Share them with families who want a clearer way to talk about concepts at home.
- Pair them with direct instruction and word work for a more connected literacy experience.
- GALLERY + TESTIMONIALS
Hear what readers are saying about the Alphabet City Series
I am so glad for this book and look forward to more like it from this author. It helps teacher and parents teach the sounds of letter Y to young kids and even older struggling readers .
My second-grade kids are obsessed with your book. They love schwa and find it everywhere now!
This book is fabulous. It's the perfect way to introduce schwa and discuss it with young readers. I'm going to use it with all my students in grades 1-3.
I love this book for introducing the schwa sound to my first-grade students. It breaks down a tricky, but common, sound in a kid-friendly way. Now my students are recognizing and finding the schwa sound all of the time!
This book should be in every first-grade classroom. It's a wonderful book for introducing a tricky concept in an evidence-based, explicit and systematic instructional classroom.
I purchased this book and read it to my daughters several times. It really helps make short vowel protector spelling fun!
I purchased this book and read it to my daughters several times. It really helps make short vowel protector spelling fun!
This book should be in every first-grade classroom. It's a wonderful book for introducing a tricky concept in an evidence-based, explicit and systematic instructional classroom.
I love this book for introducing the schwa sound to my first-grade students. It breaks down a tricky, but common, sound in a kid-friendly way. Now my students are recognizing and finding the schwa sound all of the time!
This book is fabulous. It's the perfect way to introduce schwa and discuss it with young readers. I'm going to use it with all my students in grades 1-3.
My second-grade kids are obsessed with your book. They love schwa and find it everywhere now!
I am so glad for this book and look forward to more like it from this author. It helps teacher and parents teach the sounds of letter Y to young kids and even older struggling readers.
- faqs
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about the series, how it is used, and who it is for.
Are these traditional decodable books?
How can these books be used in the classroom?
These books are perfect for whole-group or small-group instruction to launch a new phonics lesson.
*Use them as a hook to introduce a complex sound-spelling pattern.
*Reference the colorful “community of letters” characters during your explicit phonics instruction to give students a memorable visual and narrative anchor.
*They serve as a great bridge between phonics theory and practical application.
Do the books each focus on a different concept?
Yes! Each book in the series dives into a specific phonics rule or sound-spelling pattern. Through the stories of the letters living in Alphabet City, students learn why certain letters team up, why some are silent, or how they change sounds when they hang out together.
Can families use these books at home?
Absolutely! Because these are designed as read-alouds, parents don’t have to worry about their child getting frustrated by words they can’t decode yet. Families can read them together at bedtime or during shared reading time to reinforce the same phonics concepts being taught in the classroom—making phonics engaging rather than a chore.
