About
Founded in 2025, Foxtail Phonics was born from a simple yet powerful vision: to make early reading both engaging and effective. We wanted to create books that are actually decodable for young readers, books that start with the basic foundation of reading and gradually progress to a first and second grade level, books that have vibrant and lively illustrations that keep the kids engaged and focused and that will leave them wanting more.
Mission
Cultivating confident readers through engaging, research-based phonics education.
What We Offer
Decodable readers that gradually guide children through phonetic patterns. Future products will include activity books packed with playful exercises, tracing, and vocabulary-building games, resources designed with educators and parents in mind with easy-to-follow guides and reproducible worksheets.
Why It Matters
Grounded in the latest research on literacy and the Science of Reading, Foxtail Phonics books foster not just word recognition, but confidence, comprehension, and a lifelong love of reading.
Vision for the Future
As a fresh voice in the world of educational publishing, Foxtail Phonics aims to inspire young learners- and the adults who guide them-with innovative, effective tools that make early literacy accessible and fun.
The Foxtail Phonics System
Our comprehensive library of 50 decodable books is designed to grow with your child. We move slowly and intentionally through four critical milestones.
Short Vowels
CVC words eases your child into reading just like the words they have been blending.
Blends
2 letters put together that make 2 sounds like Bl CA PL.
Digraphs
Two letters put together that make 2 sounds as in SH TH WH.
Long Vowels
Unlocking vowel teams and the magic of silent e.
Ashlee Swensen
Ashlee Swensen lives in Saratoga Springs, Utah, where her greatest joy is being a mom to four wonderful children and a wife to her supportive husband. When she's not teaching or creating, you'll often find her outdoors-hiking, mountain biking, or boating in the mountains she loves.
From a young age, Ashlee has had a deep love and tenderness for children. That passion naturally led her to teaching preschool. To see children learn, grow, and discover who they are and the ability they have is magical.
Ashlee loves to push herself to become better, to give more opportunities to people, and make other's lives better. This drove her to create these books. Using her decades of experience, she wanted to create a set of Decodable books that can actually be decoded by young readers. She wanted to create a set of books with adorable storylines and illustrations that would capture the imaginations of the children and bring the parents in to the process.
Makaylie Acevedo
Makaylie Kunzler Acevedo was raised in a small town in southwest Wyoming. She fell in love with art in high school, where she first began to discover and tailor her personal style.
Makaylie loves to create imaginative and charming pieces that remind us of what it is like to see the world through the eyes of children. She has received several awards for her pieces, but in recent years her art has been featured on greeting cards and in the walls of loved ones' homes.
She now lives with her husband and son in Magnolia, Texas. You can learn more about her art at Instagram handle or Etsy website.
