Do you need books that target ‘WH questions’ for preschoolers? Many younger students, especially preschool age have IEP goals for answering “wh questions.” These of course would be questions that begin with who, what, where, when and sometimes why. This can be a difficult goal to work on but having the correct book to accompany this goal is helpful. Let’s look at 8 books that target ‘wh questions’ for preschoolers.
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CHILDREN’S BOOKS FOR WH QUESTIONS:
1. No, David Series by David Shannon
“No, David!” and “David Goes to School” are some of the most beloved books in every elementary school. The entire series is great for working on asking who, what and where questions with younger students. These books are great because they are short and engaging. Additionally, children can emphasize and relate to David because he is impulsive and they understand that at a younger age. The No, David! books by David Shannon do a wonderful job of leaving just enough unspoken in the words of the story. Students must understand what is happening in the book from the illustrations. In turn, this makes it the perfect book to use for targeting ‘wh questions’ for preschoolers.
2. Little Critter Books by Mercer Mayer
There is a huge variety in the Little Critter book series by Mercer Mayer. Titles such as “I Was So Mad,” “I Just Forgot” and “When I Grow Up” , just to name a few, are very relatable subjects to children. What makes these books even more special is that they have a spider or a mouse on each page of them. This makes it really simple to ask questions such as, “Where is the mouse?” or “What is the spider doing?” Also, there are some lift-the-flap-books by Mercer Mayer that are perfect for preschoolers. Try “Where is My Frog?” or “Where is My Sneaker?”
3. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a __ Series
I think every person in elementary education is probably familiar with “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a ____” series of books. These books are written by Lucille Colandro and there seems to be a topic to go with almost every theme and holiday now. They are the perfect books for asking WHO and WHAT questions. Try asking questions such as: Who did she swallow now? What will she swallow next?
Here are some of the many book topics available:
Pair with a book companion and you are SET with plans!
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover! Check out the BOOK COMPANION.
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Frog! Check out the BOOK COMPANION.
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose!
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey! Check out the BOOK COMPANION.
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly!
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick! Check out the BOOK COMPANION.
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Cow! Check out the BOOK COMPANION.
4. Where’s Spot?
Have you read “Where’s Spot” by Eric Hill before? It is a sweet and simple lift-the-flap story about looking for a dog named Spot. Children can take turns lifting the flap on each page as they look for the dog under each item. There is also predictable language on each page:
Where’s Spot?
Is he under the _____?
No! That’s a ____(different animal)____.
This predictability will help students comprehend the story and follow along easily. Ask questions such as “Who was under the flap?” or “What kind of animal is that?”
5. Pete the Cat Series
The Pete the Cat book series is a classic picture book for wh questions. It all began with the first book, “Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.” Pete teaches children how to “brush things off” and not to “sweat the small stuff.” There are great lessons to be learned from Pete. You can easily ask who, what, where, when and why questions using these picture books.
6. Fisher Price Little People Series
You are probably familiar with the Fisher Price “Little People” plastic figurines but did you know that they are from a book series? The lift-the-flap books below are great for wh question activities in speech therapy.
7. Wordless Picture Books
Do you use wordless picture books in your speech therapy room? If not, you need to start! Using wordless picture books gives you the advantage to work on many different skills for both speech and language, such as:
Figurative language
Vocabulary
Making Inferences
Articulation
There are many more speech and language goals that you can work on by using wordless picture books for kids besides those listed above. For this one I’m actually giving you three instead of 1 book. I can’t help myself!
BEST WORDLESS PICTURE BOOKS FOR PRESCHOOLERS
-Where’s Walrus? by Stephen Savage
This is the adorable story of a happy-go-lucky walrus that is bored at the zoo and decides to escape. As the zookeeper chases him, he tries on all sorts of different hats as disguises. This book makes it easy to ask tons of ‘what’ questions: What kind of hat is he wearing now? What color is his hat? What kind of job would wear this type of hat?
–Where’s Walrus? and Penguin? by Stephen Savage
This is of course the sequel to “Where’s Walrus” and it is just as clever. This time Walrus escapes with his friend, Penguin. Read to find out if they can stay one step ahead of the zookeeper in their clever disguises.
Chalk is one of my favorite wordless picture books. I think every SLP I cross paths with uses this book! It is a simple story of three children finding a magical bag of chalk on a rainy day. The pictures are vivid and bright. This wordless book is perfect for asking who, what, where, when and why questions. I have a book companion with all your speech therapy targets ready if you need that too!
Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell is one of my absolute favorite wordless picture books. I voted it my favorite in 2018 and wrote an entire blog post all about it plus activities to use! There is also a book companion available in my store for Wolf in the Snow. The book companion can be printed or used digitally.
8. Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London. Children can definitely relate to Froggy’s forgetfulness, impatience and fears. Froggy Gets Dressed is about Froggy putting on the appropriate clothes to play in the snow. This makes it the perfect book for asking questions such as, “What did froggy put on?” or What is froggy wearing now?”
Check out the Froggy Gets Dressed BOOK COMPANION!
What are your favorite books for targeting wh questions with younger students?
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