Top Books for Preschool Speech Therapy

As speech-language pathologists, we absolutely love incorporating books into all of our sessions! Early literacy is SO important! Here are some of our favourite types of books we like to use with our preschoolers:

1. Books with Repetitive Text (e.g., That's Not My...Series): Books with repetitive text allow children to anticipate and fill in the blank as well as naturally participate during the reading time. Books with repetitive text can also provide you with opportunities for auditory bombardment where you emphasize the speech sound you will be working out as it comes up throughout the story.

2. Interactive Books (e.g., Touch the Brightest Star): We love using interactive books that have a cause-and-effect element built right into the story! Using interactive stories such as "Touch the Brightest Star", "Plant the Tiny Seed", or "Tap the Magic Tree" are fantastic for having the child engage with the book. These books naturally include opportunities for following directions, guessing what will happen next, and repetitive verb vocabulary with absolutely no extra prep on your part! So fun and such a simple way to introduce books in your preschool therapy sessions. 

3. Touch & Feel Books (e.g., Don't Tickle the Hippo): Touch and feel books provide so many opportunities for the child to engage with the story you are reading. They are fantastic for introducing describing vocabulary, themed vocabulary, early sounds and animals! The Don't Tickle...series also provides a sound element if you so choose which is great for cause and effect and imitation of those sounds! 

4. Search & Find Books or Lift-the-Flap Books (e.g., Let's Find Momo Outdoors): Kids love looking for hidden treasures on a page! Search and find books provide opportunities to target themed vocabulary, multisyllabic words, spatial concepts, expanding utterances, and following directions! 

5. Short Story Books & Play-Props (e.g., Little Caterpillar): Our preschool students love it when we take a short story and pair it with play-props! The student gets to be a part of the story as they find the same play-prop that appears on the page and can use this for story retell purposes later on as well. Play-props can be sensory bin pieces, miniature objects, pretend play toys or laminated pictures. Adding this simple element brings the book to life and allows you to expand the vocabulary beyond the book itself!

Be sure to check out our blog for more ideas on how to use various play-based activities in your sessions! We even have a blog dedicated to "Top Books in Early Intervention" for you to check out as well: https://www.playbasedspeechtherapycourse.com/blog/top-books-for-early-intervention-in-speech-therapy ! For more hands-on examples and ideas on how to use a play in therapy check out our free webinar at: https://www.playbasedspeechtherapycourse.com/free-play-based-speech-therapy-webinar