Children learn with the help of Phoneme Fred, a little alien character who can only speak using separate sounds. Parent and child follow five simple steps: find the rhyming words, find the sounds, blend the sounds, split the word into sounds, and read the word. By the end of the book, children will be able to read words such as cat, dog, pig and hen. Superphonics offers swift progress because of its highly focused approach. With just 20 minutes' work a day, most children will complete Book 2 in about 4 weeks. It is illustrated in colour throughout by Kate Sheppard.