Children’s Books by Black Authors to Support Speech Sound Development
In honor of Black History Month, I wanted to highlight some books by Black authors that you can read with your child all year to practice speech sounds at home. Did you know that in 2021, only 9% of children’s books were by Black authors, and only 13% were about Black people? For more information go to data on books by and about Black, Indigenous and People of Color published for children and teens compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Similarly, 92% of speech-language pathologists are white and only 3% are Black, highlighting the lack of diversity we have in our field. This means that most of the materials created for use in speech therapy are created by white SLPs and can reflect bias. Buying materials from Black clinicians and educators on platforms such as Teachers Pay Teachers and using picture books by Black authors can help us amplify Black voices in speech therapy sessions and at home to work on speech and language development.
Here is a list of children's books by Black authors by speech sound that you can include in your library to support your child's speech sound development.
K and G sound:
Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke. There are so many K and G words in this book! Many kids are working on saying their K and G sounds, trying to improve a pattern known as velar fronting (see my previous blog post). This book is great to practice K and G sounds. Jay Jay takes a trip to Grannie’s house and the whole family comes over! Some target words in this book are: Grannie, cuddles, candy, come, car, cousins, go. Grannie appears on almost every page!
Max and the Tag-Along Moon by Floyd Cooper. Max’s Granpa promises him that the moon will always shine for him, no matter where he goes. This book also has many K and G words! Granpa, car, kept, giggled, peekaboo, curve, cows, clouds, couldn’t, glow.
S and S Blends:
Mae Among the Stars by Rhoda Ahmed. Mae wants to be an astronaut and she gets encouragement from her family to keep dreaming to achieve her goal despite the what her teacher says. Here are some S words that appear in the book that you can help your child practice: see, astronaut, possible, searched, space, boxes, so far away, sooner, dancing, surrounded.
Firebird by Misty Copeland. This book is all about ice skating and the pictures are gorgeous! S words found in the book are: spotlight, costumes, fireworks, sky, soar, swan, silver spotlight, spinning, sunlight.
L and L blends:
What is Light? by Markette Sheppard. This is a heartwarming story about finding light in things all around us, including ourselves! You can help your child practice their L sound at the beginning of words, and in L blends (L that is next to another letter, like BL in blue). Words in the book with the L sound are: light, firefly, let it go, glow, leaf, floating, love, flapping.
I Am Enough by Grace Byers. This story is about the ways we are different and being enough. Almost every page begins with the word “like,” which is a great word to practice for the L sound! The repetitive, lilting cadence of this book is beautiful. You can support your child to join in and say “like” at the beginning of each phrase to practice the beginning L sound.
If you are looking for more children’s books by Black authors, check out this list at The Conscious Kid. If you’re in Austin, be sure to visit Black Pearl Books, a Black-owned bookstore or order from them online!
Here are some Black authors on Teachers Pay Teachers for speech therapy materials:
JRC the SLP
Bearly Articulating
Having Our Say
Related blog posts:
Great Children’s Books by Black Authors for Speech-Language Skills