
Do you need some ideas of repetitive picture books to use in speech therapy? Why are repetitive texts a good idea to use with students? Let’s discuss why they are important and some ideas of repetitive books you can use during therapy or at home.
PREDICTABILITY
Repetitive texts are valuable in so many different ways for children. For one, they are predictable. Students that are learning to read will have more confidence while listening and trying to follow along when words repeat themselves. Children actually enjoy predictability in their day because it gives them a sense of calm, even when reading!
ELICITS EARLY LANGUAGE SKILLS
Next, repetitive books help elicit early language skills especially in early childhood stages. When stories are predictable, children will try to read along as well. Why? Because they have knowledge now of what the story “says” and it feels good for them to try to read along with you confidently. These books with predictable, repeated text also help students with decoding as well as fluency.
HELPS ATTENTION SPAN
In addition, books that repeat themselves actually help capture a child’s attention during reading. When a child has less to think about, there are more cognitive opportunities for them to use and think about language. The predictable nature of these stories just requires less cognitive ability from them; essentially it decreases their cognitive load. When children have less to think about, then they can focus more on what’s happening during the story! Hence-this gives opportunity for growing their comprehension!
NEW VOCABULARY EXPOSURE
Finally, new vocabulary words are repeated MANY different times throughout the story. Also- books that are repetitive provide frequent practice for targeted speech sounds that a student may be working on. This is a HUGE win for speech therapists and clinicians and a big reason why I love using repetitive picture books.
Let’s look at 10 repetitive picture books that are great:
#1 Brown Bear Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
Every child should be exposed to this story. It is absolutely a classic and probably my favorite predictive text! It helps young students with so many skills- predictability, colors, animal identification…the list goes on. Search on Pinterest for activities to go with this story and you will be overwhelmed at the opportunities for lessons!
For these adorable repetitive stories by Usborne books and Fiona Wells, there are many different topics to choose from:
That’s not my llama.
That’s not my lion.
That’s not my unicorn.
THat’s not my plane.
That’s not my train.
(That is just a FEW.) These books are great because it’s simple to choose a topic to match what you’re learning about in therapy. Plus, there are only 6 sentences per story. This is a great book to target the sight words-That, not, my and even have students come up with their own ending!
Sandra Boynton is a queen of repetitive text. She has a multitude of titles when it comes to choosing predictive text. Some favorites are Blue Hat, Green Hat and Moo, Baa, la la la!
Like Sandra Boynton, author Lisa Patricelli has a flair for repetitive text. Her books are simple, to the point and easy for young children to follow along.
#5 Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
This is one of the most beloved books of all time. It is now part of my collection that I read with my toddler as well. The quiet poetry of the words and soothing illustrations makes Goodnight Moon the perfect book for the end of the day. “In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon… Goodnight moon. Goodnight mouse. Goodnight house…” This story is a true classic and one that every child should be exposed to.
#6 Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Chicka Chicka boom boom….will there be enough room?! This is a classic story to use with younger students learning their alphabet letters. There are also tons of fun crafts and activities to use with this book. It is great for preschool and kindergarten age students.
In this sweet story, a child writes a letter to the zoo asking for a pet. On each page, a new animal appears from the zoo but each is unsuitable to be a pet. (Animals are also behind flaps which kids LOVE!) The last animal ends up being perfect and is the only one not sent back to the zoo.
#8 Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
Pete the Cat books have excellent repetitive text: Poor Pete keeps losing his buttons. Pop goes a button. Did Pete cry? Goodness, no! Buttons come and buttons go. He kept on singing his song: “My buttons, my buttons, my three groovy buttons. My buttons, my buttons, my three groovy buttons. This story is also great to sneak in a quick social skills lesson on always finding the good and not overreacting.
#9 Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee
This is an adorable story in which parents beg their very spunky child to please behave! Great use of simple repetition-”please, baby, PLEASE!”
#10 Go Sleep in Your Own Bed! By Candace Fleming and Lori Nichols
This book typically makes kids giggle. Each animal goes to bed and finds another animal sleeping in the wrong bed. It repeats “Go sleep in your own bed!” throughout the story.
Are you ready to grab some repetitive books for your students yet? Which ones would you add to the list?!
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