These Clifford readers are as good as any phonics readers I have seen, and they have the important feature that they star Clifford and his friends, beloved by children everywhere. There are two important things to remember when buying this (or another) set of beginning readers. First, be sure to buy the FIRST Clifford set first. (I made the mistake of buying Set 2 first, and quickly discovered that they were considerably more advanced than Set 1; the sets are really meant to be read in order.) Second, it is very important to keep in mind that your child will only be able to benefit from early readers once he or she is ready to read. I bought these for my son when he was not yet four years old. I would read them occasionally to him, but he had no interest whatsoever in trying to read them himself. But suddenly, about midway through kindergarten, he became very interested in learning to read. The Clifford books make it effortless to teach him. Each morning and evening we read a new Clifford book and he is so eager to do so. The stories are very sweet and star all of the characters from the TV show version of Clifford. In summary, if you're ready for a set of beginning readers, these are the ones I'd recommend.