Children's Book Recommendations from a Speech Therapist

Mar 27, 2023

By: Charlotte Murell


Why Is Reading An Important Language Tool?
When developing language skills, it is important to consider adding reading with your child to your list of tactics. Books are great to utilize as tools to improve receptive and expressive language skills in a huge variety of ways. Not only is reading with your child a great bonding experience but it allows your child to learn new concepts and vocabulary in a novel and exciting way. Learning language should be fun as well as engaging, and there are wonderful books with brilliant pictures and easy to understand plots to help your child learn many concepts. There have even been books written that can help with teaching social skills to children who need more complex concepts broken down into more manageable chunks. 


What To Look For In A Book
So now what? How can you go about finding some amazing books to help your child improve language skills? When I am in the process of finding books to utilize in therapy as an SLP there are a few things to look for.


  • First, I want to think about the length of the book. I want to find something that is not too short or too long. Just as Goldilocks was looking for the best fit, I want to find a book that will be easily understood by the child as well as one that will hold the child’s attention for a few minutes. If it is taking you more than 5 minutes to read a book with children 4 and under, the book might be too long to hold their attention or they might get tired of waiting for something fun to happen to the characters. For children who are within school age from 5 years old to 10, I would consider a book that takes me about 10 minutes to read. For children in upper elementary, middle, and high school you want to look for books that have more complex concepts with longer paragraphs.


  • Secondly, any book you want to pick out to read to your child should be engaging. If the topic of the book does not get your child’s attention and sustain that attention, you will easily lose their interest and it will be hard to recapture that focus. You can always let your child pick out a book to read from a selection of 2 or 3, so that you are providing them with some structure with the book's content and allowing them to be independent with the selection process. If your child has any special interests, use them!


  • Third, when looking for an appropriate book selection, I like to look for age appropriate vocabulary. For children ages 2-5, I want to find books that have early vocabulary words to learn including animals, clothing, food, feelings, and basic concepts like prepositions, big vs small, and colors. For children ages 6-10, I tend to look for stories that have more complex plots to work on answering what/where/who/when/why/how questions. For children ages 11-18, I want to find books that are easy to read but have vocabulary words that coincide with academic learning. 



5 Book Collection Recommendations And Why I Love Them!

World of Eric Carle: My First Library 12 Board Book Set


 Your child will love this set of books that has many different concepts; colors, shapes, numbers, and various places in our world. Each book has bright pictures to capture attention and small shapes to fit in tiny hands!

The Complete Adventures of Curious George: 75th Anniversary Edition


Beloved by many generations, this collection features everyone’s favorite monkey going on wonderful adventures with all his friends. George is great for helping elementary students who need to learn about social skills when interacting with peers as well as learning novel vocabulary words!

The Big Book of Berenstain Bears Stories


The Berenstain Bears are another lovable family that have been seen in schools, homes, and libraries for years. The family and their friends get into many fun escapades, solve mysteries, help the community, and so much more! These books are great for elementary students who are needing to read more complex sight words. 

Pete the Cat's Giant Groovy Book: 9 Books in One


 Pete the Cat books are another great choice for elementary students who are learning new vocabulary words, learning to make friends with peers in school and the community, and love to use their imagination!

60 Scholastic Easy Leveled Readers Phonics Early Guided Reading Lot


These books are great for learning how to read at multiple levels. No matter where your child is in their journey in learning to read, this collection provides multiple stories with a variety of characters and activities. Once your child completes the first level, they can easily move up to the next set!

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Movies, Music, & More: Summer Events in Richmond and Berea

By Hannah C • 09 Jun, 2023
School’s out for summer! Now what? Not sure what to do with your kiddos for the next two months? Both Richmond and Berea Parks and Recreation have filled their calendars with events that are both family-friendly and FUN! Here are just some of the options available to you! In Richmond 4th of July Celebration: Richmond’s annual 4th of July Celebration will be held at Lake Reba Park on Tuesday, July 4th! Here is a schedule of events for the day! Live Music: Tyler Hood at 5:00 PM Allnuts4Music at 6:00 PM Rock of Ages at 8:00 PM Paradise Cove Free Swim: 4:00PM - 7:00PM Free Adventure Falls Mini Golf: 4:00PM - 10:00PM Food Trucks, Beer & Wine Vendors, and Inflatables: Open at 5:00PM Fireworks: 10:00PM Movies in the Park: Movies in the Park will resume this month at Irvine McDowell Park! Movies begin at dark, and there will be vendors for snacks and beverages at each! June 23rd, 2023: Sweet Home Alabama July 28th, 2023: Dirty Dancing Paradise Cove Free Swim: Hang out and swim at Paradise Cove for FREE! Free swim lasts from 4:00PM to 7:00PM and is the perfect family outing! June 30th, 2023 July 21st, 2023 Check out the Richmond Parks and Recreation website HERE for more information on these events plus a calendar filled with even more family fun! In BErea Family Swim Nights: The Berea Swimming Pool has three remaining dates for family swim! Mark your calendars for a FREE night of fun! All dates are from 6:00PM to 8:00PM. June 20th July 11th July 25th Dive in Movies: There is no better way to enjoy a warm summer night than swimming AND a movie! Berea Parks and Recreation is hosting free movie events at the Berea swimming pool. Check out the dates and movie choices below! June 16th: “Super Pets” July 21st: Movie TBD Check out the Berea Parks and Recreation website HERE for more information on their summer calendar and pool! Be sure to take advantage of these awesome events to beat the heat and spend some quality time with your family and friends! We can’t wait to see you there!

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