40 Wordless Books for Speech Therapy

Wordless books are a great way to reach students in speech therapy. First of all, they take the burden of reading off the table for students who are non-readers or students still learning how to read. It’s a great way for students to get excited about books in a no-pressure kind of way.

Wordless Books in Speech Therapy

Additionally, as speech pathologists we can narrate the book to match the age level of the student we are working with. I’m a speech path who works with a wide variety of students and some need vocabulary to be broken down in a way that makes it easily digestible. Wordless books allow me the flexibility as an educator to customize the book for the student(s) I’m working with.

IEP Goals Targeted by Wordless Books

The following speech therapy IEP goals can be targeted with wordless books:

• Answering WH-questions
• Describing
• Inferencing
• Vocabulary

Using Wordless Books for Eliciting a Speech Sample

Additionally, wordless books are *perfect* for eliciting a speech sample as part of an evaluation. They are really perfect because there is no reading involved, which can impact a speech sample negatively, such as a student reading versus talking.

40 Favorite Wordless Picture Books for Speech Therapy

Here’s a lengthy list of wordless books that is definitely not a definitive list (feel free to comment below with other books I should check out and potentially add to this list). However, I think you will find lots of these books at the library and on Amazon. Just so you know, these links are affiliate links through Amazon:

1. Tuesday by David Wiesner
2. Journey by Aaron Becker
3. Spot, the Cat by Henry Cole
4. Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin
5. The Only Child by GuoJing
6. Flora and The Flamingo by Molly Schaar Idle
7. Sidewalk Flowers by Jonarno Lawson
8. Mirror by Suzy Lee
9. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
10. Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu
11. Hunters of the Great Forest by Dennis Nolan
12. South by Patrick McDonnell
13. Float by Daniel Miyares
14. The Typewriter by Bill Thomson
15. Fish by Liam Francis Walsh
16. Flashlight by Lizi Boyd
17. A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
18. Flotsam by David Wiesner
19. Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell
20. Chalk by Bill Thomson
21. Fossil by Bill Thomson
22. Pool by Jihyeon Lee
23. Lines by Suzy Lee
24. Free Fall by David Wiesner
25. The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
26. Red Sled by Lita Judge
27. Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day
28. Hank Finds an Egg by Rebecca Dudley
29. Inside Outside by Lizi Boyd
30. Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman
31. Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola
32. Rain by Peter Spier
33. Sector 7 by David Wiesner
34. The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
35. Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
36. Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad
37. Wave by Suzy Lee
38. Carl’s Birthday by Alexandra Day
39. Goodnight, Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day
40. Fly! By Mark Teague

I hope this list inspires you to use a wordless book in your next speech therapy session!