About

About Me

Hi, I’m Alana Johnson — a teacher and creator behind Stories Behind the Sounds.

I created this series to help make phonics instruction more memorable, engaging and meaningful for young readers. By combining storytelling, recurring grapheme characters and visual connections, these books aim to support students as they build confidence with spelling patterns and early reading skills.

What began as a classroom idea quickly grew into a passion for creating literacy resources that feel both purposeful and playful. Each story is designed to help children connect sounds, letters and meaning through engaging text and memorable characters.

As an educator, I know how important it is for literacy resources to be both effective and engaging in real classrooms. My goal is to create materials that support teachers, tutors and families while helping students develop confidence and enjoyment in reading.

What You’ll Find Here

• Phonics storybooks

• Grapheme-focused literacy resources

• Printable literacy activities

• Visual learning supports

• Early reading materials for classrooms, intervention and home learning

My Teaching Approach

The resources within Stories Behind the Sounds are designed to support explicit phonics instruction through:

• memorable storytelling

• repeated grapheme exposure

• visual connections

• playful character-based learning

• meaningful text experiences

Thank you for being here and supporting this growing literacy journey.