Shop Now
A child coloring with markers at the table

Color it. Read it. Love it.

Your child colors the picture first, with crayons or markers. Then they read the short sentence that goes with it, one vowel sound at a time. Finish the book, and they earn the lesson on how to draw the character.

Start With Fancy Cats, $14.99
No screens, no worksheets
Built by a first grade teacher
Ages 4 to 7, short vowel words
Fancy Cats, Short A
Start here
Fancy Cats, Short A
Fancy Cats, Short A

New to Draw Me A Story? Start here.

Fancy Cats, Short A

Meet a cat and a fat rat while your child practices short A words through coloring and reading.

  • They color the picture with crayons or markers.
  • They read the short sentence that goes with it.
  • When every page is done, they learn to draw the cat.
28 pagesAges 4 to 7Softbound
$14.99

Want the whole series? Get all 5 short vowel books and save $15 →

Shop the complete series, or build your own set.

Get all five short vowel books in one bundle and save $15, or pick individual titles to start with your child's favorite character.

Save $15

The full Short Vowel Sounds bundle

All 5 books, softbound, one story world.

$59.95$74.95Shop the Bundle
Fancy Cats softbound book

Fancy Cats

A cat and a fat rat playing tag, one short A word at a time.

$14.99
Elephant Ellie softbound book

Elephant Ellie

Meet Ellie, and ten new short E words along the way.

$14.99
Six Silly Fish softbound book

Six Silly Fish

Six wiggly fish and a whole tank of short I words.

$14.99
Frogs On Bubbles softbound book

Frogs On Bubbles

Frogs hopping bubble to bubble, one short O word at a time.

$14.99
Rub a Dub Dub softbound book

Rub a Dub Dub

A tub, some pups, and a splash of short U words.

$14.99
1

Color the picture

Your child grabs crayons or markers and colors the page first. The picture becomes theirs before they read a single word.

2

Read the sentence

Beside every picture is one short sentence built entirely from one vowel sound. Read it together, point to each word, find the sound.

3

Learn the words, then draw

By the last page they have read a whole book and know every word on the list. Then comes the reward: a step-by-step lesson on how to draw the character.

Heidi Bradbury
Heidi Bradbury
15 years teaching first and second grade

Built by a teacher who watched too many kids struggle with learning to read.

Heidi Bradbury spent fifteen years in first and second grade classrooms, handing out the same passive worksheets every reading program relies on. She kept watching the same thing happen: kids who could draw for an hour without stopping would shut down the second a worksheet landed on their desk.

So she flipped the order. Color first, read second. A cat. A fish. A frog on a bubble. A child who has just spent ten minutes coloring a picture wants to know what it says, and that wanting is what carried them through the words.

Our Reading Philosophy

"No worksheets. No screens. Just crayons, paper, and characters that belong to your child."

Kids learn best through encouragement, connection, and joy, not pressure or perfection. Every child develops at their own pace, and every bit of progress, big or small, deserves recognition.

I can do this.

Why coloring first actually helps a child read.

This is not a coloring book with sentences added on, the order the pages happen in is the whole point. When a child colors a picture before reading the sentence about it, an abstract sound gets attached to an image they worked on, and researchers call that dual coding: pairing a word with a picture gives the brain two ways to remember it instead of one.

Ownership before decoding

A worksheet hands a child someone else's cat. Draw Me A Story hands them a black-and-white cat and a box of markers, and ten minutes later it is their cat, with their colors and their scribbles. That ownership is what carries a reluctant reader through a sentence they would otherwise skip.

Hands busy, brain working

Kids who squirm through pencil-and-worksheet reading practice often do better with something for their hands while their brain sounds out a word. Coloring gives them that. Sitting still and staring at a row of letters does not.

A reward that teaches

Every book ends with a step-by-step lesson on how to draw the character. Getting there means reading every page first, and the drawing itself builds the fine motor control that later makes forming letters easier.

Start with Fancy Cats, from the Short Vowel Sounds series.

Start with Fancy Cats, from the Short Vowel Sounds series.

Short Vowel Sounds is the first series in the Draw Me A Story library, and Fancy Cats is the easiest place to start. Each book follows the same shape: a picture to color and a short sentence to read on every spread, a word list, an I Did It certificate, and a how-to-draw lesson at the end.

Softbound, printed on demand28 pagesAges 4 to 7

A peek inside Fancy Cats

Every spread pairs one short sentence with a full illustration to color, and the book ends with a word list, a certificate, and a how-to-draw lesson.

The coloring and reading pages

The coloring and reading pages

A full illustration on the right to color in by hand, a short A sentence on the left to read once it is done.

The how to draw pages

The how to draw pages

The reward for finishing the book: a six step tutorial for drawing the cat, followed by a blank page to draw one and write a sentence about it.

The words you learned pages

The words you learned pages

Every short A word from the story, collected on one page, plus an I Did It certificate to fill in and keep.

The Complete Short Vowel Sounds Starter Kit.

Everything your child needs to color, read, and learn all five short vowel sounds: Fancy Cats, Elephant Ellie, Six Silly Fish, Frogs On Bubbles, and Rub a Dub Dub. One story world, one sound at a time.

$59.95$74.95 bought separately
All 5 Short Vowel Sounds books, softbound (Short A, E, I, O and U)
A picture to color and a sentence to read on every spread
Short vowel word lists in every book
An I Did It certificate and a how-to-draw lesson in every book
Save $15 compared with buying the books separately

Prefer to try one first? Start with Fancy Cats for $14.99

Elephant Ellie
Rub a Dub Dub
Fancy Cats
Six Silly Fish
Frogs On Bubbles

More than one series. A whole shelf.

Short Vowel Sounds is series one. Long Vowel Sounds is next. Storybooks, card games, classroom sets, and digital downloads, across a growing set of series, all built the same color-first way.

Storybooks

The Short Vowel Sounds series is 5 titles and counting, sold individually or by series, with more series on the way.

5+ titles
Shop storybooks

Card games

Fast, portable practice for nouns and short vowel sounds. Built for the car, the waiting room, or a five minute break.

Coming soon
Get notified

Bundles and sets

The 5-book Starter Kit now, with classroom sets sized for a full reading group on the way.

Shop bundles

Digital downloads

Every storybook as an instant print-at-home PDF, for families who want to start tonight.

6 files
Shop digital

Made to be colored outside the lines.

Every illustration in every book is real marker art, drawn by hand, on purpose imperfect. Then it is your child's turn to make it theirs.

Fresh off the page

Fresh off the page

Uncolored
Colored in by hand

Colored in by hand

Made for the way your child actually learns.

Whether your child is just beginning or needs a little extra support, the program meets them where they are and celebrates every bit of progress. These are the three kinds of families who keep coming back.

Homeschool families

A curriculum that flexes around your child's pace, with no screens and nothing to grade. Built to feel like exploration, not school at home.

Classroom teachers

Ready to use out of the box, with mixed-ability appeal and a novel enough hook to re-engage kids who have checked out of reading practice. The same short vowel sounds every phonics program drills, without the worksheet.

Kids who learn by doing

Coloring and drawing engage kinesthetic and visual learners in a way that listening and repeating never quite reaches. A gentler entry point into reading.

What families are saying.

Real families, in their own words, with more added as they come in.

“

I still see things I learned from you come up as I support my own kids as they have learned to read, and in the art we do every day in our home. Learning in a creative space is so much more impactful.

Iris Waldron, former student, now a parent

Questions before you start.

The five things every parent and teacher asks first.

What age is Draw Me A Story for?

The short vowel sound books are built for ages 4 to 7, roughly pre-reader through early first grade. Kids who already love to color get the most out of it, and the how-to-draw lesson at the end of each book walks them through the character step by step.

Do I need the whole series, or can I start with one book?

Start with Fancy Cats, from the Short Vowel Sounds series, and see how your child responds. Each book stands on its own, but the five books in a series build on each other, which is why most families move to the full series bundle once the first book clicks. As new series launch, they follow the same pattern.

Is this for homeschool, classroom, or just home use?

All three. Homeschool parents use it as a daily reading routine, classroom teachers use it as a mixed-ability warm-up or center activity, and plenty of families use it simply as a screen-free after-school habit.

Who prints the books, and how fast do they ship?

Every softbound book is printed on demand just for you, so printing takes 5 to 7 business days. With standard shipping, most orders arrive in 2.5 to 3 weeks; faster shipping is available. Checkout shows the exact dates before you pay, and we email you at every step.

What format do the books come in?

Softbound, printed on demand, or an instant PDF download if you want to start tonight.

Give your child crayons or markers before you give them a worksheet.

Start with Fancy Cats, or bring home the full Short Vowel Sounds series at once.

Shop the BundleShop the Full Catalog