The Peapod Readers series is a collection of CEFR-aligned English story books, originally published by Collins in the United Kingdom. Sasbadi holds the exclusive rights to publish and distribute the Peapod Readers series in Malaysia.
Readers are a special class of reading materials published for the purpose of learning and strengthening one's language competency. They differ from normal reading materials as they are aligned to a specific language framework with appropriate vocabulary, structures and learning objectives for targeted age groups. This ensures that Readers are effective at helping learners achieve certain levels of language competency at particular age groups.
The Peapod Readers series is aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, or more commonly known as the CEFR. The CEFR is a standardised framework recognised and used globally for an accurate measurement of language competency. There are 6 competency levels in the CEFR measurement scale, starting at CEFR A1 (lowest), CEFR A2, CEFR B1, CEFR B2, CEFR C1, and CEFR C2 (highest). Absolute beginners in any language learning start at the CEFR Pre-A1 level.
The Levels in Peapod Readers refer to the graded content that is levelled against the CEFR. There are five levels in the Peapod Readers series, with each level progressing to the next in difficulty and complexity. Levels 1 to 3 are classified as CEFR Pre A1, Level 4 as CEFR Lower A1 and Level 5 as CEFR A1.
There are 200 titles (i.e. individual books) in the Peapod Readers series. The titles are sold in 2 sets, with each set consisting 100 titles each. Set 1 has 100 titles covering Levels 1-3; and Set 2 has 100 titles covering Levels 4-5.
The number of titles in each Level is as follows:
If your child is a beginner in learning English, you may start them off with the Set 1 titles (ie. Levels 1-3). If they are in a more advanced stage of learning English, Set 2 (ie. Levels 4-5) may be more appropriate for them.
However, the Peapod Readers is designed to help children achieve specific learning outcomes that ensure they possess language skills in line with CEFR Pre-A1 and A1 standards. Therefore, it is advisable for your child to read and learn by progressing through Levels 1-5 of the Peapod Readers.
One useful guide to determine your child's expected CEFR level is via Malaysia's national curriculum. If your child is in pre-school, kindergarten, or Standard 1, he or she will be expected to achieve a level of CEFR Pre-A1. If your child is in Standard 2 or Standard 3, he or she will be expected to achieve a level of CEFR A1.
As a general guide, children may start learning with the Set 1 titles from the age of 3 to 4 years old. Parents and teachers may also use the Reading Guides to participate in the child's learning process, which allows them to determine whether the child should slow down, speed up, or maintain at his/her current pace of learning.
Every title in the Peapod Readers series is paired with a unique guide that helps parents and teachers to achieve desired learning outcomes in their learners. Each guide consists a list of key language items and structures, suggestions for before and after reading activities, methods to engage a learner with questions and activities, spark their curiosity, start a conversation and strengthen their observational skills. These are all crucial to not only accelerate a child’s learning, but to build their critical thinking and logical skills while making the learning process more fun and meaningful.
We have made every title available for preview on this website. To browse the books, head over to our 'Books' page, select the desired level and browse away! For your information, only the first few pages of the books are available for preview.
Each Peapod Readers set comes with a Reading Guides book that caters to all the titles in that set. You can also access to them by downloading them from our 'Reading Guides' page free of charge.
Yes, you may purchase the Peapod Readers series from Sasbadi’s official store on Shopee. If you wish to speak to a sales representative or arrange for bulk purchases, head over to our online sales directory.
Yes! Simply head over to our 'Where to Buy' page and contact us via our contact details.