
We are now in the final stretch of January for 2021. It has been quite the month in the United States of America. Last week we had the inauguration of our new president Joe Biden and our first woman Vice President, Kamala Harris! That was quite amazing! I am truly proud that the first VP in the U.S. is a Black woman who also shares my Jamaican Heritage. She is also of Indian descent. There has been a push lately to have more diversity in all sectors and now we have just that in the second highest position in this country! I am beyond excited!
Anyhow, in regards to speech/language therapy, I traditionally feature many children’s books related to the winter theme to build communication, language, and literacy skills. This year, I’ve added three different and diverse books to my recommendations that you probably have not used during January in speech/language therapy or your classroom.
My first recommendation is Auntie Luce’s Talking Painting by Francie LaTour. This author is a Haitian American woman who was inspired to write this story based on her own life experience. It tells the story of a young girl who travels to Haiti during the winter from the U.S. to visit her family. During her trip, she has the privilege of having her aunt, a local artist, paint her portrait. This portrait represents a true cultural artifact that affirms her identify. Her aunt tells her stories about her family and her ancestors from Benin and other African countries. She tells her about the Freedom fighters in Haiti who defeated French soldiers and how Haiti became the first independent Black country during the colonial era. This is an excellent book that has rich vocabulary and will promote critical thinking skills during speech/language therapy or the classroom. You may have recalled that I recommended this book during the summer as well for Caribbean American heritage month. Here’s a read aloud of this amazing story.
Next, Jan Brett’s excellent book, Three Snow Bears, has been one of my favorite winter themed stories for several years now. The author was inspired to write this book after traveling to Northern Canada where she met some indigenous Inuit people. A-looki, the main character, represents a curious Inuit girl who discovers an igloo and goes inside to explore. Inside, she finds hot soup, warm boots, and a cozy place to rest her head. There’s just one thing! This igloo belongs to the Snow Bear family who went out for a walk while their breakfast cooled down a bit. While on their stroll, they help rescue A-looki’s huskies that were drifting away on a piece of ice that was floating away. A-looki was fast asleep inside the igloo and completely oblivious to her barking dogs outside who needed help. I love the illustrations of this story and the parallel between this story and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It’s an ideal book for young learners. You may use my Boom Cards listening comprehension check for this story or my printable WH questions worksheet.
My third recommendation is Rainbow Crow, a Lenape Native American tribe legend. It is retold with permission by Nancy Van Laan. I have used this book in speech/language numerous times over the years. It is an engaging and well written story that is ideal for speech/language therapy lessons and purposeful classroom interactive read alouds. In this book, readers and listeners, learn about Rainbow Crow, one of the most beautiful birds. One winter, there is heavy snow that is quickly covering the forest. The animals are taken by surprise and need help since the smaller animals were almost completely covered in the snow. These animals decide to climb on the larger animals to stay safe. This is a big problem in the story and they need a solution. In the midst of trying to decide what to do, Rainbow Crow appears. What will he do? There is a special ending that you don’t want to miss and it has an important message about diversity. You can watch a read aloud of this story here.
Grace Goes to Washington, by author Kelly DiPucchio, and illustrator LeUyen Pham is a timely book to read aloud this January to children in speech/language therapy, the classroom, or even at home with your own kids. Do you remember Grace? In a previous book, she is elected student body president at her elementary school. Now she is excited that her class is going on a field trip to Washington D.C. Before the trip, Mrs. Barrington gives the class an important lesson about the three branches of government. While in D.C., Grace and her class visit the Lincoln Memorial, U.S. Capitol, White House, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. When they return to school, the school needs to vote on how to spend money they raised from a bake sale. The students brainstorm ideas on what to spend the money on. Grace suggests that Aman, a new student, present his idea to the student council. In the end, the classmates vote for his idea, a Friendship Mall, where students can gather at recess when they want to sit and chat with each other especially on days when they need a friend. This is a good book to activate student’s prior knowledge about Washington D.C., historic monuments, and the 3 branches of government. There are plenty of tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary that you can introduce during the read aloud and after the reading to build language skills.
Snowmen at Night, written by author Caralyn Buehner, is another classic winter themed book that many children enjoy. This is a good book for students to practice answering wh questions or story retell. In this story, a young boy builds a snowman during the day. The next morning, he notices that his snowman is leaning over. He begins to wonder what snowmen do at night. Hmmm… He thinks that perhaps they go to the park and play all night long. He imagines them having races, doing skating tricks on the frozen pond, playing baseball with snowballs, having a snowball fight, and going sledding. How do they feel at the end of the night? Speech/language pathologist and teachers can get an interactive Boom Cards activity to practice listening comprehension or join almost 5,000 people who have a printable WH questions worksheet.
My last recommendation for children’s literature to use in January is Snowmen at Work, by Caralyn Buehner. In this book the same little boy from her other story builds a snowman. Instead when he wakes up the next morning he notices a shovel next to his snowman. He also notices that his walkway leading to his front door is already shoveled. He wonders who shoveled the snow? Was it the snowman? Do snowmen work during the night while people sleep. Hmmm. The main character imagines all the jobs that snowmen may do. Perhaps they stock frozen foods at the grocery store, work as mechanics to fix snowmobiles, visit pet store with snow animals, work as bakers making delicious treats, teach snow children, or deliver frozen pizza from Frosty Pizza. Students can compare and contrast this story with the previous one. They can complete language practice with an interactive Boom Cards activity, printable WH questions worksheet, or printable synonyms & antonyms worksheets. If you prefer, you can have students annotate answers to this worksheet during a telepractice or Zoom speech/language therapy session.
I have a few other speech/language activities to other popular and engaging winter themed children’s books including:
Sneezy the Snowman- Boom Cards activity or join over 5,000 people who have my printable WH questions worksheet
The Mitten- Boom Cards activity or printable activity packet (WH questions & vocabulary)
There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow- Sequencing & WH Questions printable activity
Tier I and Tier III vocabulary- Categorization Activity
Thanks for reading my children’s literature recommendations for January. I hope that you found some activities that you can use to build essential communication, language, and literacy skills too. Check back soon for next month’s selections.
All the best,
Tamara Anderson, M.S., Ed.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Education Specialist
Diversity & Equity Advocate