Our Favorite Books to Help Toddlers Talk
Books are an amazing tool to help toddlers learn to talk. But there are so many choices out there. What are they interested in? What’s at their level? What’s better, something educational or something engaging? There’s a lot to consider! And, as speech-language pathologists (SLPs), we definitely have our own criteria to add to the list. Things we consider when picking books that help toddlers talk.
In this post, we’ll share a few of our very favourite books to help toddlers talk—and what we like about them. These are books we love using with little ones in therapy and with our own toddlers! So we think they’ll be good choices for your family, too.
Also, we want to make sure you know your little one(s) can join us for on-demand story time. It’s the best, and we think you’ll love it!
Tips for Choosing Books That Help Toddlers Talk
#1 Consider Your Toddler’s Current Skill Level
When you’re looking for books that will help toddlers talk more, we first look at where they’re at developmentally. There are a lot of smaller, foundational skills that toddlers must develop before they start to talk. Some toddlers master these skills really quickly, and for other toddlers, it can take more time or even require professional support from a speech therapist.
Because every toddler’s language skills are different and vary so much based on their age and abilities, we’ve broken this post into two categories:
Toddlers who aren’t talking very much
Toddlers who are talking a lot—meaning they are saying many words and beginning to speak in short sentences.
So before you continue on reading, take a moment to think about which category your toddler fits into. Sometimes it’s really obvious, but not always. Especially if you’re not what “typical” looks like for your toddler’s age. The best thing to do in this instance is to compare what your toddler can do against the developmental language milestones, or what is considered typical for their age. We have a free milestones chart you can download to help with this part.
#2 Consider All The Ways To Read With A Toddler
The other thing to keep in mind when choosing books to help your toddler talk is that there are so many ways to read a book with a toddler!
Books can easily be adapted to meet your toddler’s skill level. Depending on their level and their needs, you can simplify a book or make it more language-rich simply by choosing which words and sentences you say or don’t say out loud as you read. You can even make up your own stories with the photos in the book. You are not bound by the words written on the page!
But we know this can be a big mental switch when you’re used to reading a story from start to finish! So to take some of the guesswork out of it with specific, skill-related suggestions.
Books That Help Toddlers Learn To Talk
We’ve included shoppable links here so that if you find the perfect book for helping your toddler to talk, you can quickly grab it. The links are through bookshop.org, so if you choose to buy, you can feel good knowing you’re supporting a local bookshop in your area. But we love the library, too. It can be a really fun activity for you and your toddler. And, it’s free!
Related: Tips for Choosing Library Books
For Toddlers Just Starting To Talk:
#1 Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
This book is a toddler classic for a reason. Toddlers love lifting the flaps on each page and discovering who’s there. It’s so engaging and fun for them!
Talking Tip: Practice the sign or word for “open” on each page before lifting the flap.
#2 The Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurry
The rhythmic quality of this book is really engaging for toddlers while they’re learning to talk, making it a HUGE favourite for toddler families.
In fact, whenever we ask our IG community what their toddlers’ favorite books are, this one is always in the top 5!
Reading engaging books is important because we want toddlers to be interested in the books they read! They learn best when having fun. (Don’t we all?!)
#3 Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle
We love ‘Brown Bear Brown Bear’ for helping toddlers to talk because it’s so repetitive. Almost every page repeats the phrases, “What do YOU see?” and “I see a ____, looking at me!”
This helps toddlers work on learning repeated words like “see”, “I”, and “me”, as well as the animal names and sounds in the book.
Talking Tip: If your toddler is familiar with this book, try leaving off the last word in a repeated phrase. Say “Brown bear, brown bear, what do you” and then PAUSE to see if your child can fill in the missing word. (The pause is key here—give them time to think and respond!) We show you exactly what this looks like in this Instagram reel.
#4 The Baby Goes Beep by Rebecca O'Connell
This book is lesser known than the others, but it’s a hidden gem in our opinion. It’s full of fun words that toddlers learning to talk can imitate. like beep, boom, flip, yum, splash, and smooch.
Hopefully, it’s one brand new title you can add to your bookbag!
Talking Tip: Practicing imitating sounds and gestures like these is so important for toddlers learning to talk—especially if they’re not yet speaking.
For Toddlers Speaking In Short Phrases:
#1 Today by Julie Morstad
This book lets your toddler think about planning their own perfect day. It’s fun because it’s different each time! There are so many little surprises in the illustrations that make it so enjoyable to read together.
#2 The Wheels on the Bus by Jane Cabrera
We love a singable book! They incorporate rhythm, repetition, and often gestures—3 things that can definitely help toddlers talk. We’re linking The Wheels On The Bus here, but Jane Cabrera has written several of our go-to’s. Check out as many of her titles as you can!
#3 Dog’s Colorful Day by emma dodd
Dog’s Colorful Day includes dogs, colors, and counting. We feel like, what more can you ask for in a toddler book?! This is a really engaging and joyful book that toddlers learning to talk tend to really enjoy. This is one of the books we recently read in our Songs + Stories membership, where on-demand storytimes and song classes are led by SLPs.
Borrow Our Full Book List!
These are just a few of our favorite books for helping toddlers talk. There are so many more we swear by and we’d love to give you the full list. Click the link below and we’ll send you a copy!
on-demand story time & songs
Intentional screen time designed with your child in mind.