50 Fun Repetitive Books for Children with Apraxia of Speech
Looking for books with repetitive phrases? Here are 50 Repetitive Books for Children with Apraxia of Speech.
One of the things I remember most about getting our diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech was the feeling of helplessness. While I understood that speech therapy would be key to helping our son communicate, that was only one time each week. I'm with him 24 hours, 7 days each week. What could I do at home?
For us, it's reading books. When we read books together, he not only looks at the books while I read it, sometimes he also watches my mouth as I read the words. Then, he imitates what I modeled for him.
And it wasn't something I had to force. He just started doing that.
While there are some great children's books out there, the ones that we've found to be most helpful in his language development are books that have repetitive words and phrases. These have become favorites for all the kids, and it's a great way to practice sounds without being forceful with learning.
Places to Find Reasonably Priced Repetitive Books
Books can be pretty pricy. But they don't have to be. You could ask friends and family for books for birthdays and holidays. Here are some places you can usually find books for below retail:
- Goodwill
- The Salvation Army
- Book Fairs
- Discount stores (i.e., Marshall's, Big Lots, TJ Maxx, etc.)
50 Repetitive Books for Children with Apraxia
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury
To Market to Market by Anne Miranda
If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Joffe Numeroff
If You Take A Mouse to the Movies by Laura Joffe Numeroff
If You Give a Pig a Party by Laura Joffe Numeroff
If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Joffe Numeroff
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr.
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone
Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton
Red Hat, Yellow Hat by Sandra Boynton
Goodnight Moon by Margret Brown
Dear Zoo: A Lift The Flap Book by Rod Campbell
Have You Seen My Cat?
1, 2, 3 to the Zoo by by Eric Carle
Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
Who's Making That Mess? by Jenny Tyler Stephen
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Are You My Mother?
Up to Ten and Down Again by Lisa Campbell Ernst
Is Your Mama A Llama? by Deborah Guarino
Jump, Frog, Jump!
Wodney Wat's Wobot by Helen Lester
It Looked Like Spilt Milk
“Buzz, Buzz, Buzz” Went Bumblebee by Colin West
I Don't Care! Said the Bear 
I Went Walking 
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
The Napping House
The Big Book of Exclamations by Teri Kaminski Peterson
Pacifiers Are Not Forever by Elizabeth Verdick
Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm by Joy Cowley
She Sells Seashells: A Tongue Twister Story by Grace Kim
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Nadine Bernard Westcott
White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt
The Pirate Who Couldn’t Say Arrr! by Angie Neal
Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Sheep in a Shop by Nancy Shaw
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey and Don Wood
The Yak Who Yelled Yuk by Carol Pugliano-Martin
The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord
Green eggs and ham- Dr. Seuss
That is a great one, Aimee!! I don’t know how I forgot about Green Eggs and Ham!
I’d add all the Pete the cat books!
I haven’t heard of Pete the Cat books. I will definitely have to check those out. Thanks for the tip, Kate!!
my daughter has a recent diagnosis. And I was trying to find something as well. trying to fill that void of helplessness. Pete the cats are silly, but repetitive and so you can be silly and over annunciate the words. We have lots of fun and she doesn’t realize she is working!
It’s so hard. I still remember my head spinning. Knowing that we were going to do whatever it would take, but feeling so helpless. I love that with books we can help them and they don’t realize they are having their own little therapy session. It’s great. Thanks for stopping by, Kelli! {{Hugs}}
“Old Black Fly” by Jim Aylesworth!
Go! Go! Go! Stop! By Charise Mericle Harper and Go, Dog. Go! By P. D. Eastman
Sheep in a Jeep is also really good, and Oh Dear! may be out of print but worth looking at.
Clip Clop is fun, as is One Duck Stuck and I Went Walking. Great list!!!
Thank you so much for those suggestions, Pauline! When my son first got his diagnosis, I just felt so overwhelmed and wanted to something. Reading books is something that we do anyway. I’m so glad people are finding this list a great resource.
Hop on pop. By Dr. Seuss
Great words to say and funny pics.
Great list! We love The B Book!
My children loved “The Duchess Bakes A Cake” with the repetitive line “a lovely, light, luscious, delectable cake.” Hope I remembered that correctly. My “baby” is 17.
Agree with the comment above about P. D. Eastman’s “Go, Dog, Go!” Boys and girls like it. Cars and hats, what can be better?
Great list!Thank you. I’m sharing.
Ooooo. I love all the comments because I’m finding new books to read! “The Dutchess Bakes a Cake” sounds like a book my kids would love! Thanks for the suggestion!! I’ll have to look it up.
No David! by David Shannon is a great one my apraxic son loves it!
There is a book called “I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More.” My son loves that book.
That sounds like a fun one, Brandy. Thanks for sharing!
Great list. Would avoid “ain’t.” I’m a SLP I with 40+ years of experience with kids with apraxia.
Hello! I am so glad to find your blog and this list.. our second son has apraxia of speech. Thanks!
I had never heard of Apraxia until now. But as a retired teacher and children’s librarian, and now a tutor to primary-aged children, this list is great. I can use some of these with a child I tutor with Dyslexia too. In fact, I am using some and will add a few more!
Caring through Christ, ~ linda
ps…I have a book review blog too: http://the-reader-and-the-book-reviews.weebly.com/
These are great books. My 13yo done has apraxia of speech & I feel for you all as I remember wondering if he would ever talk. I can tell you that finding the right therapist is key, they will all tell you they know about apraxia but it does not mean they know how to treat it. The other great resource for me was the book, The Late Talker by Marilyn Agnin. Also the section in the book on which supplements to use… I can honestly say made a night & day differences for us. Reading is great & if you find the right therapist they will encourage you to sit in on their sessions (quirtly) & watch so that you can duplichate what they do at home. Sorry , didn’t mean to go off topic on you all, I just read the blog for the first time & wanted to share it does all work out. 🙂
My daughter Shiloh is also dealing with apraxia of speech. Thanks for this list. I am digging through my books and found several on your list!
Great books! I also use a lot of books like these that have predictable sentences. After the first couple of readings, I ask the child to “fill in” the rest of the sentence. I tailor the amount according to the level that we are working on. They like participating and practice is not so intimidating.
Found your article on 50 books for apraxia, thanks for these suggestions! However, Just want to mention your website has so many graphics, it barely loads, and reduced my RAM in short notice by more than 1GB! This means my laptop won’t function well at all, so I won’t bookmark your page. Please think about reducing the load! Thanks!
Our son was never diagnosed with anything although he was tested many times. He sang before he talked, however. We were asked to talk to him as much as we could, and running out of things to say, we sang. There are a lot of repetitive songs! (Gotta be a little careful there. You never know which song will stick, and it probably should not be “Beer, Beer, Beer”) His first word, and he never babbled or vocalized, was “pop” in “Pop, Goes the Weasel.” For an older child I would add some of Dr. Seuss’ books. “Green Eggs and Ham?”
I just found this page and wanted to say thank you for the book list! It is very helpful!
“The grumpy ladybug” is a great repetitive Eric Carle book . Humorous video on YouTube by Mr. 7
Little Blue Truck:)
The Twins This and That- Laura Appleton Smith is great for anyone working on either the voiced or unvoiced ‘th’ sound, not just CAS. It can be really hard to find books focusing on these sounds and this one is full of it!
One of my son’s favorites has been The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree. He also enjoys “Two Little Trains” by Margaret Wise Brown. The Tractor Mac series is popular in our house, though repetition is not a key element of those particular books. Thank you for the list!
This is a great list! My 7 year old daughter also has apraxia of speech and she has dyspraxia also. We do FIAR as our school curriculum and it’s been wonderful. Many of the books you listed are FIAR books. My daughter also loves to listen to them after we have read them.
I didn’t realize that! I’m thinking about starting FIAR in the Fall!
I look forward to trying some of the titles that I have not used yet. I have been trying to find “The Pirate Who Couldn’t Say Arr”. It is out of print and is being sold for $200-$800 and higher. Very frustrating and wonder which SLPS can afford that. You may want to take it off the list. (unless someone knows where I could find it at a reasonable and fair price.)
Thanks for the list!
Hi, Virginia! Yikes! It was available when I created the list. It is available as an audiobook, but I understand that is not ideal. I do appreciate your feedback! I can’t afford a $200-$800 book either, but if someone sees it at a yard sale or secondhand store, I would like for people to know that it’s a great book to have. I wouldn’t buy it for $200-800 though. Here’s a companion lesson that might help: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Pirate-Who-Couldnt-Say-Arrr-Speech-Language-Companion-Pack-509455?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_PfunK6h2QIVFIZ-Ch0sXwfAEAYYASABEgIbRfD_BwE
I’m a pediatric speech therapist and I created these repetitive, interactive books for kids with Apraxia targeting various word structures. Check it out: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Interactive-Books-Activities-for-Apraxia-BUNDLE-CVCV-CV1CV2-C1V1C2V2-3151141
“Happy Face Sad Face”. “Little Face Big Face” by Bill Cotter- great for initial “f”