Books can be such a great way to encourage early literacy and language development. It is actually never too early to introduce books to your little one! I use books all the time in speech therapy to target certain sounds and certain language skills. But books, in general, are great ways to build any child’s language development. There are so many amazing books out there and there are new ones coming out every day. With so many great books, it can sometimes be hard to choose particular books that will not only be entertaining for your child but also will encourage your child’s early language development. So, I thought I would give a list of books I love for language development and that you and your child will love to read together! And the best part is you can find them locally in Rockford at Epilogue Books. There is a great children’s section there where you can find the books I’ll talk about along with my list as well. Just look for the blue sticker! If you go and they are out of the book you’re looking for, they will order it for you and have it in the store quickly.
Why do I love these books? Here a few off the list and why I love them!
• Black and White by Tana Hoban
Books that have black and white, a/k/a high contrast, pictures are great for birth to 3 months old little ones. At this age, a baby’s eyesight is not quite fully developed . Books like this are great for stimulation and helping development their eyesight. There are many books like this. But this particular one is a classic.
• First 100 Words by Roger Priddy
I like this book because it has simple, but effective, pictures that show the things that babies typically say in their first 100 words. You can talk about the pictures and help expose your baby to new words!
• Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathman
I love this book because there are barely any words. I’m a big fan of wordless picture books because you can get so much language by just talking about the pictures. It’s also such a cute story!
• We’re Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
This is one of my favorites. The best thing about this book is that there is a lot of repetition throughout the book. Repetition is great for reinforcing language and can be great later on when your child starts being able to predict what word might come next with rhyming.
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do you See? by Martin/Carle.
This is another great one with lots of repetition. It also introduces colors and animal vocabulary. And it’s fun! There’s a version where you can slide the pictures on each page that I love because it makes the book more fun and interactive.
• The Wheels On the Bus by Raffi
Nursery rhymes are amazing for your child’s language development. I love using nursery rhyme books like this one. You can read/sing it to your child along with looking at the pictures and they will love it!
• Touch and Feel Farm by DK Publishing
Babies love to touch EVERTHING! It can be challenging to keep them from touching everything in sight. But it is how babies learn and discover their world. Having a book that has different textures for them to feel is so stimulating for little kiddos. There are a bunch of these touch and feel books and I absolutely love them!
I just talked about a few of my favorites. But there are so many more! I have a list that you can download here for more ideas. And check out Epilogue Books if you’re a Rockford local or visitor!
Marissa Doletzky, MS, CCC-SLP
616-951-1077
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