Comics & phonics from Mother Goose Club
The Adventures of Fat Cat
Decodable comic-book stories and playful sound-outs that help early readers build confidence with letters and words — made for parents and teachers to guide, from the same creators behind Mother Goose Club.
For parents & teachers
The Adventures of Fat Cat is a decodable phonics comics program. Level 1 focuses on short vowels in CVC words — kids sound out what they see, with you as the guide.
- Watch together — phonics lessons and story videos on the Fat Cat YouTube channel.
- Read aloud / read along — start with Fat Cat and Bad Rat (book one), then move through the series at your child’s pace.
- Use the Roadmap — see how books and lessons fit together across the program (download PDF).
Teaching Pages
Teaching Pages are short, plain-English explainers that sit beside the Fat Cat stories — the “why this matters” notes for the adult guiding the child. Use them when you want a quick look at what Level 1 is practicing, without needing a full workbook in hand.
Level 1 skills at a glance
- Short vowels in CVC words — consonant–vowel–consonant patterns kids can sound out (the heart of Level 1).
- Digraphs and blends, layered in — letter teams like sh, th, ch, ck and beginning/ending blends show up alongside the short-vowel work as the series moves forward.
- A light grammar strand — a few books also touch simple grammar (for example a / an, prepositions in / on, and plural -s). Phonics stays the main focus.
Get Ready To Read (word buckets)
In Fat Cat, words in a book are sorted into simple parent-friendly buckets so you can see what your child is practicing:
- Sight Words — high-frequency words your child meets often while reading.
- Short Vowels — the CVC / short-vowel words that match the book’s focus.
- Digraphs — two letters that make one sound (like sh in dish).
- Consonant Blends — two (or more) consonants sounded together (like pl in plan).
How to use Teaching Pages with Watch / Read / Roadmap
- Watch a phonics lesson or story video together on the Fat Cat YouTube channel.
- Read the matching comic — start with Fat Cat and Bad Rat, then continue through the Level 1 path at your child’s pace.
- Check the Roadmap when you want the big picture of how books and lessons fit together (download the Roadmap PDF).
- Use the skills-at-a-glance notes above as your quick Teaching Pages stand-in while you read — celebrate sounding out, not guessing.
More free nursery-rhyme printables and lyric sheets live in Club Hub and on our Printables page.
Optional: full Teaching Pages workbook PDFs will be linked here when available — you do not need them to start guiding Level 1 today.
Mom Cat Tips
Practical coaching tips for parents and teachers guiding Level 1 — drawn from the Fat Cat approach (short vowels, sound-it-out first, you as the guide). These are parent tips, not verbatim workbook excerpts.
- Sound it out — don’t guess from the pictures. Fat Cat stories are built so the words match what your child has been taught. Point under the word and help them blend the sounds.
- One short vowel focus at a time. Each Level 1 book centers a short vowel in CVC words. Stay with that focus for the session instead of jumping ahead.
- Keep sessions short. A few focused minutes of watching + reading beats a long push. Stop while it still feels like a win.
- Celebrate sounding out. Praise the attempt to blend (“You got the /c/ /a/ /t/ — cat!”) even when a word is still hard. Confidence grows from successful sound-outs.
- Book 1 grammar tip — in vs on. When you reach prepositions in Fat Cat and Bad Rat, pause on the difference: things can be in a box or on a box. Say it, point to it in the picture, then find it again in the words.
- When stuck, re-watch the lesson. Loop back to the matching phonics video on YouTube, then try the page again. Repetition is part of the design.
- Move at your child’s pace. The Level 1 path is a sequence, not a race. Re-read a favorite book before starting the next one if they need another pass.
- You are the guide. Sit beside them, keep your finger under the word, and model blending when they freeze — then hand the turn back.
Optional: per-book Mom Cat Tips from the workbooks will be linked here when available. Until then, use the coaching tips above with Watch / Read / Roadmap.
Level 1 path
Short vowels in CVC words — titles only (start at book one and move at your child’s pace):
- Fat Cat and Bad Rat — short a
- Red Hen and the Gem — short e
- Mad Duck and the Duck Bot — short u
- Hot Dog Stand — short o
- Fat Cat and the Dish — short i
- Bad Rat Can Zap — short a
- Fat Cat has a Fan — short e
- Fat Cat has a Jet Pack — short i
- Bad Rat has a Plan — short o
- Fat Cat and the Bad Crop — short u
