Shelley Davidow

Dr Shelley Davidow is an award-winning author of over 50 books and a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. With two decades of teaching experience from Kindergarten to Year 12, she runs professional development workshops for schools and communities nationwide in creative writing. As a trained facilitator in Restorative Practice she consults with schools around the country. Her publications include the novel The Girl with the Violin (HarperCollins, 2024), the parenting handbook Grounded and the well-loved Write Now!.

Shelley Davidow

Grounded
Grounded $39.95
Grounded is a beacon of wisdom for parents navigating the complex landscape of modern childhood. Drawing on their extensive research and personal experiences as parents and educators, the authors have crafted a comprehensive guide that transcends age boundaries, offering practical insights from infancy to adolescence. Grounded provides a user-friendly introduction to neurological development and highlights that a parent’s wellbeing is integral to supporting their children effectively. Rooted in neuroscience, psychology and education, it serves as a roadmap in parents’ journey to foster optimal cognitive, emotional and physiological growth for their children. Informed by a blend of academic rigour and real-world parenting, this ground-breaking book challenges prevailing norms and calls for discernment in assessing home environments, schools, and the broader societal context. It is a call to action for parents who aspire to raise children who are not just academically successful, but resilient, happy and healthy – and well prepared to navigate an increasingly complex world.
Write Now!
Write Now! $39.95
Write Now! is an innovative resource for educators teaching creative writing to students. Packed with 20 progressive lessons, this book offers a unique approach to literacy development through engaging writing exercises designed to ignite a love for words in young minds. Educators will gain access to sequential writing activities, freewriting techniques and editing strategies aimed at improving students' overall literacy while fostering individual voices. With a focus on craft rather than standardised testing, Write Now! provides teachers with tools to create a vibrant writing community. Included are assessment rubrics and guidance for publishing student work.
Sam Cat and Nat Rat: Book 1
Sam Cat and Nat Rat: Book 1 $9.95
Meet Sam the cat and Nat the rat in this delightful introduction to early reading. Book 1 focuses on the five short vowel sounds – a, e, i, o, and u – with warmly illustrated stories that gently guide children through their first reading adventure. Perfect for emerging readers, these carefully crafted tales introduce essential sight words while honouring the natural world and animal friendships. With a touching heart to match its simple phonics approach, Sam Cat and Nat Rat builds confidence and a genuine love of reading. The consistent use of short vowel words (cat, mat, sat, get, sit, not, and up) allows children to practise and master these foundational sounds with every page.
Ned and Fred: Book 2
Ned and Fred: Book 2 $9.95
Follow the adventures of Ned and Fred as young readers continue their phonics journey. Book 2 reinforces all five vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u) through relatable characters and nature-inspired scenarios, gradually building reading fluency. Each story features consistent sentence structures and thematic vocabulary that help children consolidate their understanding of short vowel patterns. The gentle humour and engaging sight words make this book an ideal step forward for readers ready to move beyond absolute beginners. With words like swam, back, big, pig, dog, tub, and mud, children grow increasingly confident in recognising and sounding out short vowel words across all five vowels.
Len Bug and Jen Slug: Book 3
Len Bug and Jen Slug: Book 3 $9.95
Len Bug and Jen Slug invite children to explore the natural world in this third adventure. Building on short vowel mastery, Book 3 continues to reinforce all five short vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u) through charming insect protagonists and thematic stories. Words like at, hats, met, Jen's, Len's, in, hid, slid, hot, nut, huts, fun, bug, and slug provide ample practice with these foundational sounds. The nature themes create a warm learning environment where children feel supported in their growing reading skills. By the end of Book 3, readers have developed strong competence with short vowel sounds, preparing them for the exciting transition to more advanced phonetic patterns.
Jake the Snake: Book 4
Jake the Snake: Book 4 $9.95
Jake the Snake slithers into readers' hearts as Book 4 introduces the silent 'e' pattern. This pivotal book transitions young readers from short vowels to the silent 'e' sound changes, showing how words like take, made, came, name, and Jake (a–e pattern), like, Mike's, wide, wife, fine, inside, and time (i–e pattern), nose, woke, holes, homes, and moles (o–e pattern), and rude (u–e pattern) transform when a final 'e' is added. This crucial milestone unlocks a whole new level of phonetic understanding. Through familiar characters and engaging stories, children discover how the final 'e' changes word sounds, building reading independence. The touching narratives continue to celebrate nature and animal life while mastering this essential decoding strategy.
Tim's Boat: Book 5
Tim's Boat: Book 5 $9.95
Set sail with Tim in this engaging fifth book, which introduces vowel digraphs (ee, oa) alongside silent 'e' reinforcement. Book 5 represents an important shift in phonetic complexity as readers encounter new sound patterns like bee, see, tree, three, feet, green, deep, sleep (ee digraph) and toad, boat, moat, soak, and floats (oa digraph). These vowel combinations mark a significant step toward reading fluency. The water-themed adventures and vivid nature imagery make learning these new sound patterns a joy. Children who master the ee and oa digraphs in this book, while reinforcing their silent 'e' knowledge, are well on their way to reading with true confidence and independence.
Kay and Jay: Book 6
Kay and Jay: Book 6 $9.95
Kay and Jay bring the series to a satisfying conclusion as readers encounter the ai and ay vowel combinations. Book 6 consolidates all previous learning – short vowels, silent 'e', and earlier digraphs – while introducing these final vowel patterns through words like air, tail, mail, pail, hail, rail, frail, trails, snails, rain, wait (ai digraph) and Kay, Jay, stay, play, and gray (ay digraph). These patterns prepare young readers for independent reading beyond the series. With their engaging personalities and playful outdoor adventures, Kay and Jay show children that reading opens doors to endless possibilities. A wonderful celebration of how far emerging readers have come, this final book in the series leaves children confident, capable, and eager to keep reading.
-17% sale
Early Phonetic Readers by Shelley Davidow bundle
Early Phonetic Readers by Shelley Davidow bundle $49.95 $59.70
Get all six books in this special bundle. These warm and wonderful readers will delight both students and teachers as they guide young children along the path of written language one step at a time. Written in order and phonetically, each story focuses on specific word groups, sounds and sentence structures. Each story has a beginning, middle and an ending. Succeeding stories build on these skills and then move on to the next level of skill. The books are conceived in much the same way as the "Dick and Jane" readers of an earlier era, but with a very important difference: these stories have a touching "heart content" to them. The stories are gently humorous while honoring nature, animals and the environment. The illustrations in their warm simplicity are wonderful compliments to the stories! Whether you are rewarding an eager reader with a first experience of reading something someone else wrote, or helping a struggling reader get the hang of all those letters, these readers are sheer joy for everyone. The six books use simple words that the early reader will easily grasp. They have been carefully chosen by a reading specialist to help students advance from the short vowels to the silent "e" to the vowel combinations. At the back of each book is a list of sight words that should be reviewed with the child before reading the book. Appropriate for Grades 1-3. 
The Secret Pet: Book 1
The Secret Pet: Book 1 $16.95
The Secret Pet follows the delightful Early Reader Series of books also written by Shelley Davidow. In this first chapter book, we meet again several of the characters from the introductory series, most notably the boy Tim and Jake the magical snake. Tim and Jake become fast friends, both of them deciding that they simply must be together. This entails Tim sneaking Jake into his home, since Tim's mother is not very fond of snakes, and into school, where pets really aren't welcome. Through their adventures, they both discover some truths about the differences between life in the wild and life in a home, and how it is that we change our habits and inclinations out of love for one another. A perfect chapter book for young readers who are learning to decode consonant and vowel blends, punctuation meaning and sentence structure. The book focuses on vowel teams such as ea, ie, oe, ue, digraphs, open and closed syllables and more.
The Secret Door: Book 2
The Secret Door: Book 2 $16.95
The Secret Door follows the beloved phonetic chapter book series written and illustrated by Shelley Davidow. In this second chapter book, we return to the world of nine-year-old Mina, her sister Jo, and their neighbour Tim, whose extraordinary pet snake, Jake, is never far from the action. When a mysterious sound in the night leads Mina on an unexpected adventure, she discovers a secret that takes her far beyond her backyard and into a world she never imagined. Along the way, she and her friends must face danger, make difficult choices, and learn that courage often means stepping through a door, even when you don't know what's on the other side. A perfect next chapter book for young readers building confidence with vowel patterns, digraphs and multisyllabic words. It focuses on long vowels, diphthongs and the combinations ar, or, er, ir, oo, ou, ow, oi, oy, au, aw and ea.
The Secret Wish: Book 3
The Secret Wish: Book 3 $16.95
The Secret Wish concludes the beloved phonetic chapter book series written and illustrated by Shelley Davidow. In this third and final chapter book, we meet Josh, whose favourite book holds more magic than he ever suspected. When the two tiny characters from its pages escape into his room, very much alive and full of mischief, Josh finds himself pulled into an adventure he could never have imagined. Sliding slugs, crazy crickets and darting fish are just the beginning, as the two tiny kids make Josh an unlikely part of their world. Through the mayhem and mishaps, Josh discovers that sometimes the best stories are the ones you end up living yourself. A perfect final chapter book for young readers building confidence with consonant blends and digraphs, including qu, sh, th, wh, gl, sl, bl, gr, tr and more.
-12% sale
The Secret Series: Shelley Davidow chapter book bundle
The Secret Series: Shelley Davidow chapter book bundle $44.95 $50.85
The Secret Series brings together all 3 phonetic chapter books written and illustrated by Shelley Davidow, perfect for young readers ready to take their next big step. Follow Tim and his magical snake Jake as they navigate the delights and dilemmas of an unlikely friendship. Join Mina as a mysterious sound in the night leads her through a secret door and into a world beyond her imagining. And meet Josh, whose favourite book comes startlingly to life right in his own bedroom. Together, these three adventures offer young readers a rich and engaging world full of warmth, humour and just the right amount of mischief. Designed to build reading confidence through carefully sequenced phonetic principles, each book in this collection introduces new vowel patterns, digraphs and consonant blends in the context of stories children will genuinely want to read. A perfect gift for newly independent readers, and an invaluable classroom and home library resource.
-10% sale
Shelley Davidow 9-book reading bundle
Shelley Davidow 9-book reading bundle $99.95 $110.55
Grab all 9 reading books by Shelley Davidow in this special bundle. 

For educators

By Australian and NZ educators

Free shipping over $100

For ALL orders

Based in Melbourne

Supporting Australian business