Children’s Books by Asian American Authors for Speech-Language Therapy
The uptick in anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) violence that has occurred in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic is unacceptable. Parade Pediatric Speech Therapy stands with Asian American Pacific Islander communities against racism. Using inclusive and diverse materials in speech therapy is important. Did you know that only 8% of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are people of color? That means that the materials that are created for SLPs to use in therapy do not always reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the families and students we serve. One way to include diverse voices in speech therapy is to use children’s books.
This week I want to highlight two children’s books by Asian American Pacific Islander authors that are great for working on speech and language skills. You can use children’s books to help your child pronounce speech sounds, answer wh-questions, understand new vocabulary and concepts, predict what will happen next, and retell the story using expressive language. The following books can help your child develop speech and language skills while incorporating and centering the perspectives and experiences of Asian American Pacific Islanders.
A Different Pond by Boa Phi
A young Vietnamese boy and his father go on a fishing trip to a pond near where they live in the United States.
Why this book is great for working on speech and language skills:
Figurative language. Figurative language is the use of descriptive words, phrases and sentences to convey a message that means something without directly saying it. Some examples of figurative language are similes, metaphors and idioms. This book uses similes throughout, which provides a great opportunity to talk about how an author describes something indirectly. Some beautiful examples of similes from the book are, “His English sounds like gentle rain, They swim like silver arrows in my hand, Faint stars like freckles.” Talk to your child about how using a comparison can sometimes help describe how something looks or feels better than using an adjective.
Sequencing. This book is great for story retell! Story retelling helps develop expressive language and pre-reading skills! The story is told sequentially, starting with waking up early to leave the house to go fishing, stopping by the tackle shop, getting to the pond, catching the fish, and eating the fish for dinner that night. When helping your child retell the story, you can encourage them to use transition words such as “first, second, then, last” to help organize in a sequential way. Use the pictures in the book to help your child remember the order of events! You can also encourage your child to use past tense verbs like “woke up, went, caught, ate,” in their sentences.
Find out more about Boa Phi:
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang
Amy has trouble making the “perfect” bao just like the rest of her family, until she finds a solution and learns an important lesson.
Why this book is great for working on speech and language skills:
Verbs, verbs, verbs. This book is full of action words with pictures that illustrate each action. Sometimes when kids are first learning language there is a focus on the teaching of nouns, but don’t forget about verbs! Being able to express a wide variety of action words helps kids learn to make full sentences and express their thoughts and ideas in a creative way. When Amy and her family make bao, so many actions are described, such as mixing, cooking, kneading, punching, growing, squishing, pinching, rolling.
Problem-solving. Did you know that problem-solving skills go hand in hand with critical thinking and reading skills? Problem solving involves identifying the problem, thinking of solutions, testing out solutions and reflecting on how the solutions worked. Being able to identify the problem in a story and talk about the way the character solved the problem helps kids think critically about what they are hearing and reading! In this story, Amy’s problem is that she can’t make the “perfect” bao like her other family members. She has an idea and works with her grandmother to find a solution! In the end, she learns that what she thought was a problem might not have been, since both her “perfect” and “not-so-perfect” bao taste just the same!
Find out more about Kat Zhang.
Happy Reading! There are so many more amazing books by Asian American Pacific Islander authors out there to explore! Find out more about the Stop AAPI Hate movement here.