New to Mapped Words®? Begin with the Speech Sound Play Plan to start using Duck Hands® and to learn the Monster Sounds.

Monster Mapped® Books

Phonics programmes only cover a small set of the English code. Once children start reading real books, they quickly meet words that have not been taught.

Mapped Words® make every word accessible. Each sound is shown with a Phonemie® and each grapheme is highlighted by our Code Mapping algorithm, so children can see which letters go together.
Even phonics readers can be mapped, making them easier for the one in four children who struggle to keep up with programme content.

In a story, this means no more guessing or skipping. Children stay in the flow of reading, enjoy the book, and build lasting word knowledge.

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For some children, even showing the graphemes with our ground-breaking Code Mapping® tools can be too much and cause cognitive overload. These learners need to see the sound value as well, which is provided through the Speech Sound Monsters®.

Discover Code Mapping® and Monster Mapped® Words in the Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach, making English orthography clear and accessible for all learners. New to Word Mapping? Start with the 10 Day Speech Sound Plan Plan to develop phonemic awareness and then either continue with the Speech Sound Pics (SSP) Approach or your phonics programme of choice. 1 in 4 children will struggle to learn to read and spell with synthetic phonics programmes (DfE 2024) so please do use the free Monster Mapped Words at MonsterMappedWords.com

Why Mapped Words® in Books Matter

Systematic phonics programmes introduce children to a core set of grapheme–phoneme correspondences (GPCs), often around one hundred. This provides a starting point, but it is far from the whole code. English contains thousands of words with spellings that go well beyond programme content. Once children leave the comfort of their phonics lessons and pick up a book, they quickly encounter words that have not been taught.

Closing the Gap with Monster Mapped® Words

Mapped Words® change this experience. Using our Code Mapping® algorithm, each grapheme in a word is clearly shown, with Phonemies® representing the phonemes. Children can see which letters belong together and what sound value they carry. This allows them to work out any word, even those beyond the programme sequence. Instead of waiting for a teacher to explain or relying on rote memory, the mapping makes the structure visible and accessible.

Why It Works Better Inside Books

When Mapped Words® appear directly within a book, the impact is far greater than teaching word lists or isolated GPCs:

Real words in real stories. Children encounter unfamiliar spellings in context, making the mapping meaningful and memorable.
Coverage beyond the programme. Every word in a story is decodable when mapped, not just the restricted set taught in lessons.
Repetition with purpose. Unfamiliar patterns are reinforced naturally as they appear several times in the text.
From phonics to fluency. Instead of stalling when they meet an untaught word, children keep reading, staying immersed in the story and practising mapping as they go.

Why This Matters for All Children

Even children who master their phonics programme can be tripped up by words outside it. Without mapped support, they may guess, skip, or mislearn spellings. For struggling learners, the gap is even larger. Mapped Words® inside books give every child the tools to decode, understand, and remember the full range of words they meet.

More Than Access

Mapped Words® do more than unlock text on the page. They support orthographic learning by showing the full code: phoneme, grapheme, and meaning together- as seen in the Speech Sound Mapping Theory graphic below. This allows words to be stored securely in memory and retrieved for both reading and spelling. Books become not just a source of stories, but a scaffold for literacy mastery.

👉 By embedding Mapped Words® into books, we ensure that children are never left behind by the limits of a phonics programme. Every word becomes visible, every story becomes accessible, and every child can move towards confident, independent reading and spelling.