Books are an excellent tool to use with your child/student to enhance their language development. Books can give you and your child exposure to a whole new world and an opportunity to talk about concepts, different vocabulary, and grammar from the comfort of your own home. 

When selecting a book for your child/student, you should consider the age of your child and the developmental stage they are at. Some great books that you can turn to for this are the Speech Pathology Australia ‘Book of the Year’ award winners. The books are categorised by age, and can help you to select a book suitable for your child/student. 

This year’s books of the year include: 

  • Birth to 3 years: Hello World | Written by Lisa Shanahan. Illustrated by Leila Rudge
  • Three to 5 years: A Pair of Pears and an Orange | Written and illustrated by Anna McGregor
  • Five to 8 years: The Incredibly Busy Mind of Bowen Bartholomew Crisp | Written by Paul Russell. Illustrated by Nicky Johnston
  • Eight to 10 years: My Brother Ben | Written by Peter Carnavas
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Authored Children’s Book Award: Somebody’s Land | Written by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing. Illustrated by David Hardy.

You can access most books at your local library or book shop. Some other common books found on a speech pathologist’s shelves may be books with lots of colour, details, or pictures. It is also important that the books are not too long or short in length. 

Great books that can be helpful for language development at different ages from infants-kindergarten are also:

  • Giraffe’s Can’t Dance |Written by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Reese 
  • Where is the Green Sheep?|Written by Mem Fox 
  • Where’s Spot? |Written by Eric Hill 
  • That’s not my Puppy | Written by Fiona Watt

Most importantly, when picking books for book reading with your child/student, look for books that your child/student enjoys and has expressed interest in to keep it fun. Happy reading! 

If you have any questions about how you can implement book reading into your daily routine or support your child with their language development, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Hanrahan Health for more information.