I recently reflected on my favorite books for children that are somewhere between first word users and combiners. These are books that have been popular in my house with my two boys. These books also have a tendency to disappear from my own kids’ bookshelves and find their way to my therapy table. This is a short list worth sharing if you are looking for words to increase lexicon and work towards combining words.
What’s important to note is that typically children need about 50 words in order to start combining words in to 2 word phrases. Why? Because children usually get a lot of nouns before they get verbs and adjectives. It’s tough to combine words in to phrases with just nouns [think: car cup]. But with adjectives and verbs in the mix they can start to make real meaning with 2 words [big car, empty cup].
Okay, that book list….
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
From Head to Toe - Eric Carle
Pout Pout Fish - Debroah Diesen
Blue Hat, Green Hat - Sandra Boynton
Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? - Bill Martin Jr.
These books all increase repetition and predictive text. As early as the first reading of the book children will start to understand the rhythm and the flow of the book. As you read try to leave off the last word of the repetitive sentences and see if your child can fill in the word. Any time you actively read with your child allow them to explore the pictures, see what they can label, help label the things they can’t and expand upon those single words. If your child points and labels the fish in Pout Pout Fish you may respond with “yes, that is a big blue fish”. One of these books may just be the first book your child “reads” to you! It happens sooner than you think.
Happy Reading!