5 Fabulous Farm Books for Speech Therapy

There is something so enticing about playing with a farm set. Cows, horses, chickens, ducks, pigs and tractors are enjoyable for toddlers, preschoolers and elementary students. Farm sets are open-ended toys which sparks imagination and can keep children actively engaged. Farm related books are also a great way to introduce students to new vocabulary, narrative structure, build background knowledge and facilitate creativity. Farm books create opportunities for language expansion and experiential learning.



I've identified my five favorite farm book for speech therapy. In this post, I want to share those books with you as well as identify target goals and give you some ideas on ways you can use them in your therapy sessions.

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle is an SLP favorite for many reasons. This sweet book engages young readers with active animal and vehicle noises. When a mean dump truck gets stuck in the mud, Little Blue goes in after him to help out and ends up stuck as well. The animals soon come to their rescue and Dump learns a lesson valuable lesson about helping other and being a good friend. The rhythm and rime make for a great read along with emerging readers.

Barnyard Banter  is one of my favorite books by Denise Fleming. The repetitive rhyming text is easy to read and introduces children to farm animals and their sounds, "Moo, moo, moo" and "Cock-a-doodle-do." Although the text is simple, the vocabulary is rich. students are exposed to Tier 2 context-based vocabulary such as: "banter, pasture, paddock, wallow, rafters," and "grain." Students may need a little coaching to identify the implied problem and the reason for all the banter going on around the farm, but the addition of "Where's Goose?" is definitely leading the readers to make the inference.

 Chick's and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds is a hilarious story about Rooster's devious plan to raid Farmer Nuthatcher's garden. Fed up with chicken feed, Rooster sets out to have chips and salsa instead. You can't help but want to join the FIESTA. I've read this book several times over the last few years, and my students have always enjoyed the lively funny text while eating chips and salsa themselves. If you live in a part of the United States that celebrates Cinco De Mayo, I highly recommend adding this read aloud to your festivities.




Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins is another favorite read aloud with teachers and SLPs. Hen sets out to take a walk around the yard. She spends the day navigating obstacles over, under, behind, and around the farm while the sly fox attempts to pounce. Each time, fox ends up in a compromising situation. This is a fabulous book to teach basic concepts, prepositions, cause and effect, and inference skills. This book can be a springboard for movement activities, crafts, music, and story retell. Students definitely learn by "doing" with this book.


With a twist on tradition, The Little Red Hen Makes Pizza by Philemon Sturges follows a similar story line. In this story, Hen shops for ingredients, gathers supplies, and makes the dough. Her friends Dog, Duck, and Cat are less than eager to help. The end offers a fun twist that will make students laugh out loud. This book is fun to read with character voices and is perfect for compare and contrast activities, sequencing, problem-solving, story retell, making connections, describing, character analysis, and so much more. Why not make mini-pizzas with your students? 





These FIVE fabulous farm books are just a sample of my favorite read alouds for speech therapy.  
If you  have used any of these stories in your therapy, I'd love to hear from you. leave a comment below and share this post with someone you think can benefit from these ideas.

If you enjoyed this post, link to these related posts to develop language and literacy skills in speech therapy.


Top 10 Gifts for Young Children

Teaching Basic Concepts with Rosie's Walk

What You Need to Know About Boosting Tier 2 Vocabulary

5 Reasons to Use Graphic Organizers in Speech Therapy

You can also go directly to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to download these comprehensive book companions to use in your therapy right away.

 Barnyard Banter

Rosie's Walk

Duck in the Truck

*Amazon affiliate links are included. 

*To purchase gently used copies of books mentioned in this post search Thriftbooks by clicking on the following link:  Used books for as low as $3 each 

(Any purchase from Amazon or Thriftbooks links may result in a small monetary profit to My Speech Tools at no extra cost to you.)

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Lisa, SLP

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