The Warren Center Therapists’ Guide to Great Books for Speech and Language Development
For many children, gathering around for story time is one of the top childhood memories. Children love hearing the reader describe magical lands and the excitement of discovering colorful illustrations with the turn of every page. For parents, teachers, and caregivers, story time is a great way to settle down from busy activities and a means of boosting future literacy. But did you realize that these books also play an essential role in speech and language development?
Story time elements such as call-and-response, word modeling, object identification, and simple prediction all factor into how children learn to formulate sounds and process language. Books are among the best ways for children to learn the parts of speech and commit them to memory for use in daily communication. For example, beloved childhood classics like The Cat in the Hat and Brown Bear, Brown Bear teach the basics of rhyming, adjective placement, prepositions, tone, and even different styles of punctuation. These skills become imperative as children learn to communicate effectively in classroom and social environments.
Need inspiration for which children’s books to add to your collection? Help is on the way. The following guide to the best speech and language development books for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers provides tools to help children read and express themselves to the fullest.
INFANTS
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Farm Babies by Rod Campbell
What Will Infants Learn?
Introduce infants to empathy, familial relationships, and basic animal vocabulary with this charming baby book. As the brainchild of the author of Dear Zoo and other perennial classics, the Farm Babies volume is an ideal book to introduce children to a lifelong love of reading. By turning the pages solo or reading with an adult, children can learn labeling, counting, plurals, opposites (e.g. big versus small), conjunctions (“mommy and baby”), and subject pronouns (such as “I”). Also featuring fluffy baby chicks for hands-on learning, the book teaches children the basic mechanics of using books and workbooks while helping them to become comfortable with new sensory textures.
Why Are These Skills Important?
- Children will learn vocabulary, labeling, and object identification (essential preparation for logical sequencing and standardized test in later life)
- Varying number of animals encourages counting, plurals, and numbers for future math skills (and how numbers integrate within language in everyday life)
- Opportunities for questions and answers teaches babies about personal pronouns (Q; “What do you see?” A: “I see a…”)
- Repetitive tale story structure teaches children about action sequence (a foundational skill for reading comprehension)
- Visual contrasts teach children about opposites, matching, and how objects relate to one another
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Tickle by Leslie Patricelli
What Will Infants Learn?
Transform playtime into a learning extravaganza with Tickle by Leslie Patricelli. Since the friendly “tickle monster” plays a role in bonding very early, why not use the giggles to help infants learn how to identify body parts, actions, and emotions? The book uses double-spread pages and humorous illustrations to teach babies where to find label body parts ranging from tummies to toes. As children explore the colorful pages, they also learn about senses (e.g. touch, sight, hearing), subject pronouns (“I am ticklish”), and family-member identification as others (including the dog and cat) join the tickle party.
Why Are These Skills Important?
- Learning to label and identify body parts is important for building vocabulary and developing spatial and self-awareness for future self-help skills
- Children can use this book to gain awareness of important senses (e.g. touch) and for learning about friendly interaction with the parent
- Double-spread pages encourage early use of fine-motor skills; vivid illustrations introduce children to concepts of social interaction and self-confidence
- Grammar skills such as subject pronouns and negatives (“I” and “not”) help teach the basics sentence structure
- Speech-sound practice (the “t” in ticklish) encourages oral-motor abilities used commonly in conversation
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Baby Dance by Katrina Germein and Doris Chang
What Will Infants Learn?
Show your infant all of the ways that babies can move with Baby Dance. This adorable volume follows the saga of four Australian baby animals as they sing, play, and dance across the outback. The book introduces your baby to two-word combinations while encouraging healthy self-expression from head-to-toe. Full of vivid action verbs and charming rhymes, this book is ideal for reading aloud to model language for your baby. Soon infants may want to follow along by repeating the words or showing off baby dances of their own!
Why Are These Skills Important?
- Two-word combinations form the building blocks of speech and early writing ability
- The book teaches children logical sequencing as they follow the actions of baby animals throughout the day
- Strong introduction to action verbs (clap, spin, move, crawl, hide, roll, slide, blink) is an excellent way to build vocabulary and grammar. Infants may also imitate these movements for development of gross-motor and fine-motor skills
- Aesthetically pleasing rhymes provide sound awareness as children follow along
TODDLERS
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Splish, Splash, Ducky! by Lucy Cousins
What Will Toddlers Learn?
For most toddlers, bath time would be incomplete without the friendly presence of their rubber ducky. Splish, Splash, Ducky! brings the joy of the rubber ducky to every story time. With rhyming, expressive words that are super-fun to say aloud, this book allows children to copy animal sounds while providing plenty of practice for tricky speech sounds (such as the /k/ word final position in quack, squeak, and back). Colorful pages and short sentences provide toddlers with plenty of engagement from start to finish. In addition to introducing delightful onomatopoeia like drip and splash, this book makes story time interactive as toddlers learn to hop like frogs, wiggle like worms, and move like all the animals do!
Why Are These Skills Important?
- The story introduces children to most narrative elements of a story such as setting (e.g. duck pond), main characters (Father Duck and Ducky Duckling), context (weather and raining), and themes (problem solving and playing together). This fun method provides a foundation form more complex stories in the future
- Speech sounds (the /k/ in duckling, quack, shake, squeak) helps toddlers practice final word position as they read and speak aloud
- Introduction to addition subject pronouns (“we”) and negatives (“no more”)
- Action verbs and onomatopoeia rapidly expand toddler vocabulary and encourage children to emulate behavior for exercise in gross-motor skills
- Short sentences and typesetting changes help maintain toddlers’ interest until the end of the story
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Spot’s Peekaboo: A Lift the Flap Book by Eric Hill
What Will Toddlers Learn?
For playful toddler, what could be more fun than a game of peek-a-boo? A peekaboo picture book with all types of surprises hidden inside! Spot’s Peekaboo transforms language learning into a hands-on experience. Toddlers learn all of the important Five Ws (who, what, where, when, and why), make simple predictions, and discover the answers by lifting the flaps themselves. The book is a great way to teach locations and prepositions (behind the door, beside the tree) as well as plenty of action words. Give your toddler the ability to make precise descriptions with the help of this adorable tale.
Why Are These Skills Important?
- Discovering the Five Ws (who, what, where, when, and why) helps children understand questions and answers, an essential component of interpersonal communication
- The familiar game of peekaboo helps children associate learning with a pleasant experience
- Lift-the-flap design encourages children to make predictions and obtain the “reward” of discovering the answer for themselves
- Practicing locations and prepositions helps children with following instructions and navigating through their world
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
What Will Toddlers Learn?
What picture-book collection would be complete without a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar? An international favorite since its publication in 1969, this has also been ranked as one of the top two childhood classics of all time by School Library Journal. The book uses beautiful collage illustrations to tell the story of a caterpillar munching his way through a variety of foods before pupating and transforming into a butterfly. Starting on a Sunday and recounting a weeklong narrative, the story is a great way to begin teaching the days of the week, counting, healthy foods, and sequencing. In addition, the picture book covers a variety of speech and language milestones like /l/ and /s/ sounds, description semantics, and more complex narrative concepts.
Why Are These Skills Important?
- The narrative structure of watching a caterpillar transform into a butterfly helps develop toddler’s story sequencing skills for greater reading comprehension
- Starting on a Sunday and ending on the weekend, the story introduces children to the days of the week and helps them apply counting and quantity skills
- Exposure to a variety of foods encourages children to try healthy snacks just like the caterpillar
- Nature-based vocabulary (leaf, apple, caterpillar, strawberry, cocoon) helps toddlers flex their oral-motor skills and practice the milestone speech sounds of /1/, /s/, and /k/
- The story’s changes in time and setting introduces toddlers to more complex English grammar like the irregular past tense (ate, felt, built) and synonyms (tiny is a synonym of small)
PRESCHOOLERS
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The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mary Finch and Roberta Arenson
What Will Preschoolers Learn?
Introduce preschoolers to the joys of classic fairy tales with this endearing rendition of The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mary Finch. With this story, children can learn to follow a complete episode of events with a traditional opening, dilemma, problem solving, and resolution. Preschoolers can use this book to practice a plethora of speech sounds, including /r/ blends (gruff, grass, bridge, troll) as well as voiced and unvoiced /th/ sounds (there, brother, three, think). With extensive grammar practice (such as possessive pronouns) and semantics drills (describing obstacles and solutions), it is no wonder that this is one of the best-loved fairy tales of all time.
Why Are These Skills Important?
- Narrative retelling introduces children to the episodic story structure they will encounter in books throughout elementary school
- The complete plot of a traditional opening, character description, dilemma, problem solving (“conquering the monster”), and resolution strengthens preschoolers’ description and prediction skills
- Grammar practice ranging from adjectives (big, little, dark, deep) and prepositions (under, over, on) helps children create complete sentences
- The range of speech sounds practice (such as /th/ in brother and /dj/ in bridge) helps children learn the correct way to articulate sounds and helps parents or teachers identify areas in which preschoolers may need extra practice
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One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
What Will Preschoolers Learn?
Colors and quantities, galore! This irresistible rhyming book from Dr. Seuss encourages children participate during story time by filling in the blanks with their own words and predictions. Featuring the author’s fantastical plots and signature cartoonist style, the book teaches children about antonyms and opposites, similes and figurative language, and more complex location words (high, near, far). This classic text also offers plenty of opportunities to practice milestone speech sounds like the /f/ and /sh/ in fish, wish, and dish. With ingenious rhymes that keep children following along, this book makes the perfect bedtime or playtime companion.
Why Are These Skills Important?
- Rhyme structure allows children to apply adjectives to relevant descriptions (old fish, new fish, little star, hot sun)
- Repetitive tale structure introduces antonyms and opposites in a way that is easy for preschoolers to understand
- Changes in quantity (one fish, two fish) help children understand how numbers integrate within written and spoken language
- The introduction of figurative language (similes like “quiet as a mouse”) couplas (e.g. “are”), and subject pronouns (“I,” “you”) prepare children for compound and complex sentences
- Plenty of practice in milestone speech sounds /f/ and /sh/ (fish, swish, dish, wish) help children engage the oral-motor movements needed say words and help parents or teachers identify potential challenges early
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All The Ways to be Smart by Davina Bell
What Will Preschoolers Learn?
Get your preschooler excited about school from the start with All The Ways to be Smart by Davina Bell. With pleasing rhymes and attractive illustrations, this book introduces children to the basic concepts of academic excellence, emotional intelligence, and social interaction – all of which can work together to make their time at school more enjoyable. The work helps build confidence and self-esteem by showing children the different aspects of intellect and how there are plenty of ways in which they can succeed. With an emphasis on social-emotional awareness that matches its speech and grammar targets, this book makes for great summer reading in the weeks leading up to the first day of school.
Why Are These Skills Important?
- Introduction to the many layers of intellect (academic ability, emotional intelligence, social skills) can help build confidence and self-esteem
- Repetitive rhymes, regular plurals, couplas (is, are) help encourage sound awareness and grammar skills
- Introduction to talents and hobbies (building cubbies, drawing hats, showing kindness) helps with labeling and semantics
- Plentiful use of present progressive tense (-ing) can help children with more advanced words and sentences (e.g. blowing, floating, storytelling)
- Author’s choice in vocabulary provides practice with milestone speech sound /ng/ and can help children learn to say the wide range of words with this sound or ending (e.g. wing, finger, thing)
