Ebb & Flo: Cool beans by Laura Bunting & Philip Bunting

Dreamteam Laura and Philip Bunting's Ebb & Flo series is a wonderful new addition to the emerging/beginning reader sphere. Similar to the School of Monsters series, Ebb & Flo uses a mixture of short decodable words, high frequency words and tricky words that use non-phonetic spelling (such as sword). Useful for reading to or with emerging readers as well as for newly independent readers to tackle alone or alongside a listener/reading scaffolder, this series is full of potential for many stages of the reading journey. 

Released all in 2025, there are now 8 short books in the series. There are no chapters, but the book is small format like a reading practice or chapter book. That's where the similarities end though. Children familiar with favourites like Mopoke or Koala's Don't Eat Icecream will immediately recognise these books as products of the Bunting book team and they won't be disappointed. Laura and Philip have imbued the text and illustrations with their trademark humour and wit. Series such as these are becoming more widely available and they are a wonderful way to inspire our new readers and give them a sense of pleasure AND success for their reading efforts. 

Ebb and Flo are monster-like creatures with relatable personalities and friendship dilemmas. In this instalment, there's a new fad going around and while Flo isn't interested she still feels left out. 

Themes: Beginner Reader, Decodables, Friendship, Humorous Stories.

Nicole Nelson