What kind of books do you use in your speech therapy sessions? I am a book therapy kind of girl, so I’ve got lots of speech therapy book ideas for you. Picture books are SO versatile and can be used to target nearly all of my student’s speech and language goals. Just give me a good book companion, some sweet manipulatives or puppets and I’m good to go!
I’m also a fan of the classics and a complete sucker for all things Jane Austen and Anne of Green Gables. So it’s no wonder that I love classic kids’ books for therapy too. The following is a list of some of my favorite speech therapy books. Some of them I know you’ve heard of, and some of them might be new to you! I say take a look and try them out in your speech rooms to see if your students love them as much as mine do.
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1. Brown Bear Brown Bear (originally published 1967)
Did you realize how old this book was? I’m sure it’s a staple in most classrooms so I had to include it at the top of my list. My favorite things to target with it:
- Animals and colors vocabulary
- Sequencing
- Asking and answering questions
- The repetition lends itself perfectly to responding with AAC device
2. Where’s Spot? (1980)
My favorite version of this is the lift the flap version. My preschoolers adore it and I pull it out several times a year. Here’s what I like to target:
- Yes/no questions
- Prepositions
- Animal vocabulary, household vocabulary
- Core words: look, open, where
3. Goodnight Moon (1947)
This one is a sweet little book, although it does make me a little sleepy every time I read it. I love using this to target:
- Household vocabulary
- Greetings
- Complex sentences with the conjunction “and”
- Basic concepts
4. Harold and the Purple Crayon (1955)
Harold draws everything he needs with a big purple crayon. It’s really cute and great for using your imagination. Here’s what I like to target with this book:
- Functions of objects
- Cause/effect
- Basic concepts
- Where questions
5. Jump Frog Jump (1981)
This one is definitely one of my absolute favorites. It’s repetitive, fun, and so cute for spring pond themes. I even have a book companion for it in my TPT store. I love using this book to target:
- Pond animal vocab
- Prepositions
- Asking and answering questions
- Action verbs
- Responding on AAC device or signs
6. Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever (1963)
This is the ultimate book for vocab book for your littles. It’s jam packed precious pictures that my students and I both love. The pages are a little “busy,” so it’s best for kids who have the joint attention to track where you are pointing. Check out all the things you can target:
- SO MUCH VOCABULARY
- Action words
- Simple sequences
- WH questions (all of them)
- Prepositions
- Basic concepts
- Describing
- (pretty much any preschool language skill)
7. The Snowy Day (1962)
Great for winter, The Snowy Day is a cute little story about a boy playing all day in the snow. This book is good for:
- Sequencing
- Cause/effect
- Basic concepts
- Action words
8. Harry the Dirty Dog (1956)
To me this one is full of classic 60s era visuals and humor. It’s about a dog who hates taking a bath and winds up so dirty that his family doesn’t recognize him. My kinders and firsties love it. I like to target:
- Story elements
- WH questions
- Sequencing
- Cause/effect
9. Go Dog Go (1961)
This is a classic Dr. Suess-type book. It’s pretty random but filled with different concepts, vocabulary, and sentence structures. This one helps us work on:
- Basic concepts
- Prepositions
- Expanding utterances
- Sentence building
- Vocabulary
10. Rosie’s Walk (1967)
Rosie’s Walk is perfect for your farm theme. It’s about a hen walking all around the farm and doesn’t realize a fox is chasing her. It’s great for targeting:
- Prepositions
- Inferencing
- Action words
- WH questions
- Describing
These are my top 10! If you love the classics too and book companions are your thing, check out these Mini Book Companions for Classics! My first one in the series is for Where’s Spot!
It’s low prep and full of great activities for PreK-2 age students. Be sure to check it out while it’s on sale!
What’s your favorite classic picture book? Comment below and let me know! Or send me a DM on Insta! I’m happy to chat about all things books!
If you’re looking for more ideas on working with younger students, head to this post.
Love, Love , Love Books! One of my favorites is “We’re Going On A Bear Hunt.” Great for s clusters, prepositions, sequencing, inferences. It’s the whole package! 🐻🥰
All of our classroom teachers use Jan Britt’s The Mitten. But a lot of people may not realize that there’s an older version (the same name) by Alvin Tresselt. Same story concept but a few different animals and a different ending. So I use it every year in January and I do compare and contract between the two versions with my Kindergarten students.
Wow! So good to know!