Category Stenhouse Publishing

Apr 29 2026

Some books for Harrison library

Hi everyone,

Some time ago I told ANGELA KNIGHT, my librarian colleague and friend at David Harrison Elementary, that I wanted to donate some of my books for classroom teachers. I’m sorry that I’ve been so slow getting to it but I finally pulled together a collection of about half of what I’ve published for classroom use, got them signed, and am ready to get them to Dr. Knight.

The next title out will be from Stenhouse in July and is called The Phonics Handbook Poetry Collection. You can preorder it now. I love working with MARY JO FRESCH! This book has 101 of my poems and Mary Jo and I have recorded each one. Buyers of the book will have access to the collection of recordings. Coming up soon will be a series of posts featuring one poem, how to apply it, and a recording of it. I’m very excited about that!

Mar 25 2026

Pssst, wanna hear a poem?

Hi everyone,

My friend and writing partner, MAY JO FRESCH, has posted 19 of the poems we’ve recorded, some by her, some by me, some by us together, from our upcoming Stenhouse title, The Phonics Handbook Poetry Collection, 101 Decodable Poems, due out in July. She selected representative poems from each section and made it easy to access the poems as well as their curricular alignments in the book. This provides solid examples of what to expect when the book becomes available. I’m tickled that she included “Shirley the Shark.” It’s a real tongue twister. I recorded it some years ago when we were in a sound booth in California. While I struggled to get through a reading without a goof, Mary Jo and others present were in the other room, betting on how many takes I would need. Humph. Be sure to look for that one.

Here’s the link to her webpage. https://maryjofresch.com/101-decodable-poems. The Phonics Handbook Poetry Collection can be preordered now on Amazon. Please share this information with others.

Jan 11 2026

New book now has pub date

Hi everyone,

MARY JO FRESCH discovered that our book — The Phonics Handbook Poetry Collection: 101 Decodable Poems for Reinforcing Sound Letter Patterns — is now set for release on August 12. It doesn’t have a cover yet but we’ll see one soon and I’ll gladly post it. You can preorder it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble now for $34.99. Some of my 101 poems in this collection have appeared in other books and others are new for this title. Either way it’s a lot of poems and I’m delighted to be in another book with Mary Jo, a major name in this field and always an absolute delight to work with.

Sorry for the size of these pictures. My WordPress controls have gone wonky and I’m trying to fix them.