About Us
Our aim is to bring alphabet to life and get your child reading quicker and with more fun, than you ever thought possible.
Here's our favourite quote: "The tools for learning are abundant. It's the desire to learn that's rare".
That's why we developed an immersive learn-to-read adventure that super-charges your child's desire to learn. Enter the World of the Fantastics, rescue all the letters from the evil Monster of Doom, save the world. Why just learn to read when you can learn to love reading?
Fantastic Reading is a husband and wife endeavour, powered by love and a passion to increase the amount of love in the world. We believe so strongly that reading is truly magical. That learning to read should be a place you go, not just a thing you do. A place where a parent and child are transported to and share together. It’s full of love, warmth, curiosity, fun, adventure and exploration.
Our aim is to share that magic so you and your child can experience it too.
Hey, Jessie here. In case you’re interested, I’ve written the story of how Fantastic Reading came to life. I think my mum might be the only one who will read this to the bottom!
Things got off to a crazy start on the 17th of October 2022. I downloaded TikTok, recorded and posted a few reading tips for parents (using some simple paper flashcards), then went to sleep. When I woke up, there were 1 million views and tens of thousands of followers 😯
The response was mind blowing and unbelievably wholesome. Since then, I've posted advice every day and I've loved helping parents all over the world.
My own personal source of support has been my wonderful husband-to-be, Elliot, who is glad to help with all the behind-the-scenes stuff.
On Tiktok, everyone was asking the same question: "Where can I get those flashcards?".
Our old flashcards were nothing special. They were thin with sharp edges and almost black and white. We knew they could do more to support reading. We wanted to do better for our follower family.
It wasn't long before we thought, "Why create “better” when we can create the best?". It often takes the same hours and effort to work on a big project compared to something small. Elliot's favourite movie quote is from Inception: "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling".
We wanted to create the most wildly fun flashcards that got kids reading faster than anything else on the market.
We first started brainstorming on the way to the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert in Abu Dhabi. We were spending two nights camping with Elliot’s parents.
This is our favourite place in the UAE (where we were living).
I knew the main thing is for kids to connect the letter to its phonetic sound.
So, in middle of the desert, we started to create fun characters that looked like their objects and emitted their phonetic sound.
If that wasn’t hard enough, we also wanted to position the character’s eyes where the handwriting starts (to help kids form the letters).
Some were easy, like “d” the dude who’s diaper thuds on the ground “d d d”. Some were very difficult. What objects look like “r”, begin with the letter “r”, and make the “r” sound?! Take a moment create your own!
Our answer: a rainbow that’s always angry at the sun for drying up half his rainbow “[g]rrrrrrrrrr”.
After that trip, I began to learn how to use Adobe to design the characters. I love to create art and I'd always wanted to learn to use Illustrator.
This really took the longest time (four months). I was watching tonnes of how-to YouTube videos, working full time in a school, and continually redesigning/improving the characters after getting feedback from parents and kids.
I went as fast as I could without letting quality suffer.
Then we had the idea that each character should carry hidden objects that began with their phonetic sound (which meant an extra 120 drawings!). While I was happily becoming an Illustrator wizard, Elliot developed each character’s alliteration-filled story and the contents of the handbook.
At the time, we were also double checking all the latest research on how kids learn to read. I'd had plenty of training, knowledge and experience, but I wanted to ensure our method was driven by the most up-to-date scientific research.
Things took a game-changing turn when we cycled out to a remote beach.
We were sitting there on a rock looking at the sea when we had the thought: we shouldn’t just create flashcards. We should create an entire world in which the characters live and a story that gives children a reason to learn their sounds.
The World of the Fantastics, the Monster of Doom and the learn to read story was born right there and then.
This is the only photo from that beach visit! We made a weird sculpture in the sand and Elliot joked around 😆
From that point on, we really focused on trying to develop the flashcards as an adventure that facilitated a special experience between parent and child. Something that maximised not just fun and speed, but also love.
Learning to read is a monumental milestone in a child’s life and we wanted to use this opportunity for parents and children to foster an even closer bond. There’s rarely a better motivator for a young child than hugs, love and praise for effort/progress.
On the note of love, I was still developing the characters when we revisited the Empty Quarter with two friends . . . and Elliot proposed!
We’d been together 6 years but not always in the same country (Elliot with the UN in Somalia and me teaching in China). It was a special moment.
After the flashcard characters were finished, I began creating the handbook, designing the box, then recording the video lessons for parents and kids. Elliot edited the videos and wrote the kids songs.
We wanted the videos to make it extremely easy for parents to help their kids read.
When the first flashcard box prototype arrived from a local factory we were really quite excited. We danced around and sang. It looked amazing to us.
Elliot prepped the Kickstarter launch, we added some final loving touches to the product, and here we are!
We’re extremely excited to share these Fantastic Phonics Flashcards with you and to see you enjoy the learn to read adventure.
If you don’t have a child that’s learning to read, please consider them as a gift for friends or family! Share the love!
Yours gratefully,
Jessie
P.S. Here's a bit more of my background in case you want to know where I’ve got my experience
as a reading specialist:
- Phonics lead of a 4,000+ pupil
kindergarten/elementary school - Parent trainer
- Teacher trainer
- Masters holder in early education
- Experienced classroom teacher
- Experienced tutor
- Taught full time in 3 different countries
- Founder of a complete learn to read method (www.seesaywrite.com)
- Trained by Teach First
P.P.S. Thanks for reading to the bottom, mum x