All About Reading Pre-reading: Do You Actually Need It?
All About Reading Pre-reading is a well-made program that most children do not strictly need, and both halves of that sentence are true. It is a gentle, parent-taught course for the year or two before formal reading, built around what the company calls the Big Five Skills of reading readiness, taught through 78 short scripted lessons, games, read-alouds and a zebra puppet named Ziggy. The full set is 119.95 dollars. As a calm, structured plan, it is genuinely nice.
Here is the honest part a sales page will not tell you: those same readiness skills grow for many children through everyday reading aloud and play, at no cost. All About Reading itself says most children do not develop them entirely on their own, which is fair, but that is not the same as needing a 119-dollar curriculum. Before you buy anything, use AAR's free Reading Readiness Checklist to see where your child really is, keep reading aloud daily either way, and treat a formal pre-reading program as an optional extra for parents who want the structure, not as insurance against falling behind. Verified July 24, 2026.
What the program actually is
All About Reading Pre-reading comes from All About Learning Press, the same company behind the All About Reading curriculum for older beginners. It is not an app and not a class: an adult sits with the child and delivers each lesson from a scripted teacher's manual, so it asks for a parent's time rather than a screen.
The teaching runs through 78 open-and-go lessons of about 15 minutes a day, using games, little craft projects, rhyming activities and read-aloud books to keep a young child engaged. Much of it is carried by Ziggy, a zebra hand puppet who deliberately makes mistakes, drops sounds and says the wrong word, so the child gets to "correct" him, which is a genuinely clever way to make a preschooler feel capable while practising the skills. The full set, at 119.95 dollars verified July 24, 2026, includes the teacher's manual, a student packet, two read-aloud books, a letter-sounds app and the Ziggy puppet, and the reusable parts carry over if you use it with a second child.
The Big Five Skills it builds
The whole program is organised around five reading-readiness skills that All About Reading calls the Big Five. They are worth knowing on their own, because they double as a checklist whether or not you ever buy the program:
- Print awareness: understanding that the marks on a page stand for words and carry meaning.
- Letter knowledge: recognising letters and knowing their names and sounds.
- Phonological awareness: hearing and playing with the sounds inside spoken words, such as rhyme and the first sound in a word.
- Listening comprehension: following and relating to a story read aloud.
- Motivation to read: simple eagerness and willingness to give it a go.
Notice how ordinary these are. Reading aloud to a child every day, pointing at words, singing rhymes and talking about stories develops all five without a curriculum. That is the crux of the honest question below.
Do most children need it?
This is the question a review owes you, and the answer is usually no, with a fair caveat. Most of the Big Five skills develop naturally for a child who is read to daily, who plays with rhymes and sounds, who handles books and lives surrounded by print. All About Reading's own position is that "most kids don't develop reading readiness skills on their own," and a structured program can help nudge them along. That is reasonable, and it is also a company describing why to buy its product. Both things are true at once.
So the useful distinction is want versus need. If you enjoy sitting down to structured activities with your child and would like a scripted plan that removes the guesswork, All About Reading Pre-reading is a calm, well-designed way to do it, and 119.95 dollars for reusable materials is not unreasonable for that. If your worry is instead that your child will fall behind without a formal program, that worry is mostly unfounded: daily reading aloud, conversation and play are doing the real work, and a preschooler who is already interested in letters and stories may be ready to move past pre-reading entirely.
Check readiness for free first
Before spending anything, use the free tools, because they may answer your question outright. All About Reading publishes a free Reading Readiness Checklist that you complete yourself, and it is an honest way to see where your child actually sits against the Big Five skills rather than guessing. Our own reading readiness by age guide sets the same milestones against typical ages, so you can tell the difference between a child who simply needs more time and one who is genuinely ready to start. If the checklist shows your child is already well on the way, you may not need a pre-reading program at all; if it shows real gaps and you want structure, that is when a program earns its place.
All About Reading Pre-reading at a glance
| What it is | A gentle, parent-taught pre-reading program for the year or two before formal reading |
| What it teaches | The Big Five reading-readiness skills, through games, crafts, rhymes and read-alouds |
| Lessons | 78 scripted, open-and-go lessons in the teacher's manual, about 15 minutes a day |
| Included | Teacher's manual, student packet, two read-aloud books, a letter-sounds app and Ziggy the Zebra puppet |
| Price | 119.95 dollars for the full set, one student packet included (verified July 24, 2026) |
| Free first | AAR publishes a free Reading Readiness Checklist you can complete yourself before buying anything |
| Do most children need it | No; the same skills grow through daily reading aloud and play, so it is optional, not required |
The program contents, the Big Five Skills and the free readiness checklist are from All About Reading's own pages; the 119.95 dollar price is from its own store listing, verified July 24, 2026. All About Reading is named as a benchmark; we have no commercial relationship with it and do not link to it.
Who it suits, and who can skip it
It suits a parent who wants a gentle, scripted plan and enjoys structured one-to-one time with a preschooler, a family teaching at home who likes the idea of a matching pre-reading and reading sequence, and a child who shows little spontaneous interest in letters and might benefit from a playful nudge. In those cases it is a kind, low-pressure choice.
You can comfortably skip it if you already read aloud daily and play with sounds and letters, if your child is showing readiness signs on their own, or if your budget is better spent on books. Skipping a formal pre-reading program is not falling behind. When your child is genuinely ready to read, our guide to when kids learn to read covers the signs and the typical range, and our full All About Reading review looks at the Levels 1 to 4 reading curriculum that comes after pre-reading, including its real total cost.
Our verdict
All About Reading Pre-reading is a good program answering a question most families can answer for free. If you want the structure, it is gentle, well-made and reusable, and 119.95 dollars is fair for what is in the box. But do not buy it out of fear. Run the free readiness checklist, keep reading aloud every single day, and let that tell you whether your child needs a formal pre-reading course or is already on their way without one. For the bigger picture of how reading develops and what actually helps, start with our reading hub.
Frequently asked questions
What is All About Reading Pre-reading?
It is a gentle, parent-taught program for the year or two before a child starts formal reading, from the makers of the All About Reading curriculum. Rather than teaching a child to read, it builds the groundwork through what the company calls the Big Five Skills of reading readiness: print awareness, letter knowledge, phonological awareness, listening comprehension and motivation to read. It does this with 78 scripted, open-and-go lessons of about 15 minutes a day, using games, crafts, rhymes, read-aloud books and a zebra puppet called Ziggy. The full set costs 119.95 dollars, verified July 24, 2026.
Does my child need All About Reading Pre-reading?
Honestly, most children do not need a formal pre-reading program, and it is fair to say so. The Big Five readiness skills develop naturally for many children through everyday life: being read to daily, playing with rhymes and sounds, handling books, and being surrounded by print. All About Reading itself says most children do not develop these skills entirely on their own, and a structured program can help, but that is not the same as needing a 119-dollar curriculum. Before buying anything, use AAR's own free Reading Readiness Checklist to see where your child actually is; plenty of parents find their child is already well on the way.
What are the Big Five Skills of reading readiness?
They are the five foundations All About Reading builds its pre-reading program around, and they are a useful checklist even if you never buy the program. Print awareness is understanding that the marks on a page carry meaning. Letter knowledge is recognising letters and knowing their names and sounds. Phonological awareness is hearing and playing with the sounds inside spoken words, such as rhyme and the first sound in a word. Listening comprehension is understanding and relating to what is read aloud. Motivation to read is simple eagerness. Reading aloud to a child every day quietly develops all five.
What ages is All About Reading Pre-reading for?
It is aimed at the pre-reading stage, broadly the preschool years before a child begins formal reading instruction, and All About Reading suggests starting it when a child shows early interest rather than at a fixed age. Because children reach these milestones on very different timelines, the age on a box matters less than whether the child is ready and interested. If a child is already sounding out words or eager to read, they may be ready to skip pre-reading and start a Level 1 reading program instead; if they show little interest yet, more read-aloud time and play often serves better than any formal course.
Is All About Reading Pre-reading worth the money?
It is a well-made, calm, low-pressure program, and for a parent who wants a scripted plan and enjoys sitting down to structured activities with a young child, 119.95 dollars buys a genuinely gentle introduction with reusable materials. But worth it depends entirely on whether your child needs it, and many do not, because reading aloud and everyday play cover much of the same ground for free. The most honest advice is to run AAR's free readiness checklist first, keep reading aloud daily regardless, and only buy a formal pre-reading program if you specifically want the structure, not because you fear your child will fall behind without it.
How we reach these conclusions, and the sources behind them, is on our methodology page. The program's components, its 78 lessons, the Big Five Skills of reading readiness and the free Reading Readiness Checklist were read from All About Reading's own pages, and the 119.95 dollar full-set price from its own store listing, verified July 24, 2026. All About Reading's statement that most children do not develop these skills entirely on their own is attributed to the company; our view that daily reading aloud and play develop much of the same readiness is our own editorial position, offered as general guidance rather than instruction for any individual child. All About Reading is a named benchmark; we have no commercial relationship with it, we do not link to it, and this page carries no affiliate offer.