Top ESL Books for Teaching Young Learners

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As a certified English teacher, you’ve mastered a wide range of teaching skills that allows you to plan and conduct engaging ESL lessons. To ensure that you are able to fully put your teaching skills to use, you’ll also need the right teaching resources.

One of the core teaching tools you’ll use as an ESL teacher is your ESL course book. Selecting the right educational resources plays a crucial supporting role in how effectively you can teach and how well students can learn. The right book can serve as a robust framework for which you can then plan engaging lessons and activities around.

In this post, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most popular ESL course books that you can use to complement your TESOL/TEFL, and TEYL skills when teaching English in the young learner classroom.

Let’s take a look!

How do you choose a good ESL book for teaching young learners?

When first starting out as a certified English teacher, you might be tempted to ask “which is the best ESL book for teaching young learners?“. As convenient as it would be to simply list one perfect book, the truth is that there are many great books out there, all with their own strengths and uses.

So, before we dive into the world of ESL books, it would be wise to quickly go over some tips that you can use when evaluating different book options for teaching young learners:

The following books are not listed in a specific order. Each book has its own strengths and uses, so when selecting your textbook, remember to first spend some time going over your students’ learning needs and goals. Doing so can help you make educated decisions when selecting a suitable course textbook for your young learner students.

Let’s Go Series – Oxford University Press

The “Let’s Go” series by Oxford University Press is a very popular book series with eight levels (2 beginner levels and 6 regular levels). It uses a structured and interactive learning approach to make it easier for young learners to grasp the fundamentals of English through songs, games, and various multimedia resources. The content is designed to progressively build comprehensive language skills from basic to more complex structures, allowing you to build up your students’ confidence and fluency throughout their learning journey.

It also contains plenty of fun and lively collaborative activities that provides your students with plenty of opportunities to practice using the language they learn.

English type: American English

Language level: A1-B1 (CEFR)

Suitable for: 

• Reinforcing language through active learning and repetition.
• Integrating technology and multimedia into English lessons.
• Large classes where engagement through songs and games can enhance learning.

Family and Friends – Oxford University Press

Combining comprehensive quality grammar content with a thorough focus on phonics, the “Family and Friends” series by Oxford University Press, provides a solid foundation for reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. It follows a systematic approach that includes regular assessments that help monitor your students’ progress to make sure that they are continually improving.

The series is also supplemented with plenty of extra practice materials, making it ideal for reinforcing concepts at home and in class. It also contains fluency focuses sections which focuses on introducing functional everyday English phrases that can be used in real-life situations.

English type: Available in two versions — British English and American English

Language level: Beginner to Elementary / Pre A1-B2.1 (CEFR)

Suitable for:

• Developing comprehensive language skills — listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
• Structured learning environments that require clear progression and assessment tools.
• Engaging students with character-driven stories

Kid’s Box – Cambridge University Press & Assessment

“Kid’s Box” by Cambridge University Press & Assessment is a six-level dynamic English course for young learners that balances traditional teaching methods with innovative approaches. Each unit introduces language using captivating stories and themes, supported by content and language integrated learning (CLIL) that helps integrate English with other subjects.

This comprehensive approach ensures that language learning is not only educational, but also fun and engaging for children. It also fully covers the syllabus of the Cambridge Young Learners English (YLE) tests.

English type: Available in two versions — British English and American English

Language level: A0-A2 (CEFR)

Suitable for:

• Creative and critical thinking development through interactive activities.
• Classrooms that employ CLIL methodology, integrating language learning with other subjects.
• Comprehensive and progressive language learning from beginner to upper intermediate levels.

Super Minds – Cambridge University Press & Assessment

“Super Minds” by Cambridge University Press & Assessment is designed to develop young minds with intellectually challenging content that enhances both their language and cognitive skills. Each level in the series consists of 10 units that each covers a specific topic that is designed to bring stories, songs, grammar, and CLIL content to life through activities, projects, and videos.

The book series is also aligned to the Cambridge Life Competencies Framework, which focuses on integrating language learning with critical and creative thinking skills, making it an excellent tool for developing your students’ higher-order thinking skills.

English type: Available in two versions — British English and American English

Language level: A1-B1 (CEFR)

Suitable for:

• Developing higher cognitive skills alongside English, such as problem-solving and collaboration.
• Teachers looking for materials that support both individual and group learning activities.
• Enhancing classroom dynamics through project-based learning.

Jolly Phonics & Jolly Grammar – Jolly Learning

These two book series by Jolly Learning offers a comprehensive and multisensory approaches to teaching phonics and grammar. “Jolly Phonics” introduces your students to letter sounds & formations, blending, segmenting, writing and reading through an engaging story-based approach. “Jolly Grammar” then builds on this foundation with structured grammar teaching that focuses on further spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, and various grammar concepts.

This sequential approach ensures that your students develop strong reading and writing skills from the start, making the books especially effective for young learners who are just beginning their literacy journey.

English type: Available in two versions — British English (“Pupil books”) and American English (“Student books”)

Language level: Pre-A1-A2 (foundational skills)

Suitable for:

• Early literacy, particularly in teaching phonics and basic grammar to young learners.
• Teachers who want to focus on helping their students’ build a strong foundation in reading and writing from the early stages.
• Teachers looking to incorporate multisensory learning strategies into their ESL lessons.

New English Adventure – Pearson Education

“New English Adventure” by Pearson Education is a four-level book series that focuses on developing all four language-learning skills by designing lessons and activities around characters and stories from Disney and Pixar. Throughout the books, your students will listen to stories, sing songs, watch clips and play interactive classroom games, all while communicating in English.

This connection to familiar stories and characters helps engage the students’ attention and enhances their motivation to learn, making the language learning process feel more like a fun activity rather than structured learning.

English type: British English

Language level: Pre-A1 to A2 (CEFR)

Suitable for: 

• Engaging young learners with familiar Disney and Pixar characters, enhancing motivation and interest.
• Providing a thematic approach to language learning that is entertaining and accessible.
• Teachers who use storytelling as a core technique to create a fun, story-based learning environment.

Our World – National Geographic Learning

“Our World” by National Geographic Learning is a seven-level book series that uses captivating real-world content from National Geographic to teach English to young learners. It provides a platform for your students to explore global cultures, animals, geography, and more through immersive activities and collaborative project using photography, stories, and videos from National Geographic Explorers.

This exposure not only helps with language learning, but it also broadens your young learner students’ world views and critical thinking skills, making it a excellent blend of education and cultural exploration.

English type: Available in two versions — British English and American English

Language level: Pre A1-B1 (CEFR)

Suitable for:

• Expanding your students’ vocabulary and knowledge about the world through stunning visuals and facts.
• Enhancing cultural awareness and global citizenship from a young age.
• Integrating video and online resources for a blended learning experience.

Big English – Pearson Education

“Big English” by Pearson Education follows a holistic approach to language learning that combines English with other academic subjects through a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach that engages students across different learning areas, such as science, maths, and social studies. This not only helps in contextualizing language use but also deepens students’ understanding by connecting new vocabulary and structures to real-world themes and concepts.

This series is well-structured, progressing from simple to more complex language concepts, while encouraging your students’ creativity, critical thinking, and collaborative skills.

English type: Available in two versions — British English and American English

Language level: Pre A1-B1 (CEFR)

Suitable for:

• Teachers looking to teach using a holistic approach by integrating English with math, science, and social studies (CLIL).
• Teachers who need robust assessment tools and well-structured content.
• Providing your students’ with rich and diverse cultural content that can help broaden their perspectives.

Oxford Phonics World – Oxford University Press

“Oxford Phonics World” by Oxford University Press is a five-level book series that provides your students with a thorough introduction to the world of phonics. It follows a systematic, multisensory approach that covers everything from simple letter and sound recognition, to reading full sentences. Each level of the series is structured to gradually build your students’ ability to recognise and produce sounds through the use of fun and engaging interactive activities, games, songs, and animated videos.

By ensuring that each new phonetic concept is clearly understood before moving on to more complex ideas, the books are able to provide your young learner students with a solid phonics foundation.

English type:Suitable for both British and American English

Language level: Pre-A1

Suitable for:

• Building your students’ foundational phonics skills through a structured, multisensory approach.
• Young learner students’ who are beginning to read and write in English.
• Classrooms that focus on auditory, visual, and kinaesthetic learning methods to engage students and reinforce phonetic concepts effectively.

Oxford Picture Dictionary: Content Areas for Kids – Oxford University Press

This engaging dictionary by Oxford University Press is specifically designed for young ESL learners and features more than 1000 words brought to life through 9 themed units covering 70 topics. The dictionary uses rich visuals and illustrations to help build up the students’ vocabulary, and it covers language use in a variety of settings, such as language at home, school, science, maths, and social studies.

It’s an excellent tool for providing your students with a visual reference that can help them remember and understand the meaning of words more effectively. The dictionary is also standards-based and aligned to the US Common Core State Standards.

English type: Suitable for both British and American English

Language level:A1-B1

Suitable for:

• Introducing and reinforcing foundational vocabulary related to a range of content areas such as science, social studies, and maths, in addition to everyday topics.
• Supporting visual learners with detailed, colourful illustrations that enhance understanding and retention of words.
• Conducting supplementary activities and exercises.

Final thoughts

By carefully selecting the right books to match your educational goals and the needs of your students, you’ll be able to deliver effective and engaging ESL lessons. The books mentioned above are just a few of the vast variety of educational materials available in the ESL field. The effectiveness of these resources will always depend on how well they are integrated into your broader teaching strategy and the unique dynamics of your classroom.

Remember that no book, no matter how well-crafted, can replace the insights and adaptability of a skilled and certified ESL teacher. These resources are merely tools that can enhance your teaching, not substitute it.

If you have any experiences with these books, feel free to share them in the comments below. Your insights could prove valuable to teachers looking to refine their teaching practices and help their students master the English language.