Good Books for Preschool Speech Therapy Families
Books are an amazing tool to help children learn new words and concepts. They provide a context for learning language! But, with so many new titles popping up each day, it can be hard to know which books are the right books— especially when you want to support your child in speech therapy.
This post will give you tips, background info, and suggestions for how to choose good books for your preschooler in speech therapy. It’ll give you insight into how speech therapists choose books for their preschool-aged clients. And, it’ll leave you with a list of titles you can keep in your back pocket.
Quick and painless library trips, here you come!
4 Tips for Choosing Books for Preschoolers in Speech Therapy
In speech and language therapy, we would be strategic about picking a book that supports the specific goals a child is working on, on a topic that child is interested in— so we can keep things light and fun!
#1 Consider Your Preschooler’s Therapy Goals
Preschoolers in speech therapy have a wide variety of abilities. Some may be working on first words, some may be working on more advanced use of social language, and everything in between! So, it’s important to understand what their goals are to help you know what they could use practice with.
Good books for preschool speech therapy families are ones that reinforce the goals preschoolers work towards in speech therapy. So, the first step to choosing great books is to make sure you’re familiar with those goals. And, so many books could fit the bill! For example, if your child’s goal is to improve their ability to answer questions, you could work on that with pretty much any picture book.
The goals your speech-language pathologist (SLP) sets for your child will be individualized and SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. And, they’ll be based on your child’s speech assessment.
You’ll be involved in this process for your own preschooler, so you should be clear on their goals from the start. But, if for any reason you’re not, just speak with your SLP. They’ll love that you want to be in the loop and that you want to keep working on speech at home!
Keeping in mind that your child’s speech therapy goals will be very specific to them and their needs, and that every child is different, some common goals preschoolers work on in general are:
Increasing attention span
Understanding directions
Increasing vocabulary
Beginning to speak in longer sentences
Expanding play skills
Saying specific speech sounds correctly
Taking turns during conversations
Learning to understand that others’ perspectives
#2 Lean Into Their Interests
Just like for us adults, it’s so much easier for your preschooler to learn about things they’re interested in. If they love trucks, read books about trucks! Variety is great, but there’s no need to force it.
#3 Make Reading Fun!
Our number one goal is to keep reading and communication fun. If our children start to feel like it’s a chore or a test, they’ll inevitably lose interest quicker. It’s okay to incorporate a toy, let them wiggle and play, or to not read every word on the page if it makes reading more enjoyable— for them and for you!
Related: Tips for Sitting & Reading With A Busy Toddler
#4 Get A Library Card
Whether it’s because you need new books on specific topics, you want a lot of books on hand to encourage variety or exploration, or because you and your child are getting sick of the options you have at home… hit up the library!
When reading is a priority and a part of your daily routine, you burn through books. And buying new every time you need a refresh gets expensive fast! The library is a free activity for you and your child. It’s full of options. And, it offers tons of variety.
Great Books for Preschoolers in Speech Therapy
Any book you read with your preschooler and that they enjoy is great for their language development. That said, these are a few of our speech therapy favorites:
My Big Truck Book
If your little one loves things that go, this book is a must! There are endless things to talk about which means they’ll be exposed to a lot of new vocabulary words. It would also be great for practicing speaking in longer phrases and sentences.
Today
With this realistic-yet-whimsical book, your preschooler gets to plan out their day. ‘Today’ is great for working on comprehension, making choices, and responding to questions. And, it’s fun for adults too, because each time you read it’s different!
Cycle City
Cycle City is another book that offers a lot to talk about. It’s about a town full of bike riding animals preparing for a parade. (Sounds random, we know! But we swear it’s super cute.) It’s vibrant, colorful, fun and we discover something new each time we read it.
One thing to consider: Cycle City has a lot going on within each page. If too many things on a page aren’t ideal for your child, this wouldn’t be a good choice.
Maisy First Experiences Book
The Maisy series has simple illustrations and it’s easy for preschoolers to follow along with. Kids seem to really enjoy these animal characters!
Llama Llama Series
We find that the Llama Llama books really catch the attention of my preschool age clients. The catchy, rhythmic quality helps keep them engaged! And, the themes are things that preschoolers can relate to.
The Color Monster
The Color Monster is great for working on social-emotional learning skills, like learning to label your emotions.
If you’d like more books about social-emotional development, then you’ll love the mini booklist we put together.
Lola Goes to School
It’s surprisingly hard to find books with pictures of kids as the characters! We love the Lola books — and use them all the time in therapy — for this reason.
Bonus: Books About School
Finally, if you’d like a list of books to help support your preschooler as they transition to preschool or daycare, this list will really help! These books talk about routines and help your preschooler understand what to expect when they go off to school.
Support Language Development With Storytime!
We know books are so powerful when it comes to encouraging language development. So, we created this free storytime video you can play for your toddler at home! Hit start, then sit back while a speech therapist reads a book to your toddler or preschooler, inviting them to join in, take action, and repeat words as they go.
It’s a high-quality, educational screen time option that you’ll love as much as they do. And, it’s totally free!