Songbirds is a new Phonics series from Oxford Reading Tree. It comprises real stories written by the best-selling author of The Gruffulo, Julia Donaldson. All the stories are phonic stories that support the latest curriculum developments. Oxford Reading Tree Songbirds provide: fully decodable texts that build on pupils' phonic knowledge as they work through the 36 books over 6 stages; opportunities for segmenting, blending and matching sounds and letter blends; lively illustrations by a variety of artists; flexible activities that can be tailored to your phonic teaching; and an exciting interactive CD-Rom to accompany Stages 4-6. Stage 6 titles practise the long vowel sounds made by these letters: Tara's Party - ar, a; Paula the Vet - or, au, aw, ore; Where Were You Bert? - er, ir, ur; Clare and the Fair - air, are, ear; The Deer and the Earwig - ear, eer, ere; and Jack and the Giants - ure, our.