I love incorporating the Day of Love into my speech therapy sessions because it is the perfect opportunity to focus on friendship, kindness, and inclusion. Following are my favorite Valentine Books for Speech Therapy!
In addition to promoting literacy, books are perfect for working on articulation, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, grammar, MLU, and every other student goal using just a single book!
There are many amazing Valentine’s Day books out there that work great in both the classroom and at home, but I compiled a list of my favorite Valentine books for speech therapy below. I also added a few suggestions for why I love them! PS: Amazon affiliate links are also included, k?
1. Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli:
BY FAR this is my favorite book to teach around Valentine’s Day. It is a wonderful story about a man who was lonely and sad until a random act of kindness changes his entire outlook on life. It promotes kindness, inclusion, and friendship. I have two different book companions available for this one: One that is in color with a few black and white pages sprinkled in that you can find HERE, and a second that is completely no prep-just print and go-available HERE.
2. Who Will Be My Valentine This Year, by Jerry Pallotta and David Biedrzycki:
A fun, short story about a hippo looking for a valentine. She gets turned down by several other animals due to their differences, until she discovers in the end that they were only kidding, and differences are fun!
3. The Night Before Valentine’s Day, by Natasha Wing:
Another fun favorite! Part of a “Night Before” series by the same author, it details lots of activities for the day before Valentine’s Day and is full of seasonal and themed vocabulary!
4. Happy Valentine’s Day, Little Critter, by Mercer Mayer:
An adorable lift-the-flap book perfect for your younger kiddos. Little Critter is at school and having a valentine’s day party….so fun! We use a book companion for this one found HERE.
5. Froggy’s First Kiss, by Jonathan London:
A cute book for all of your students who love Froggy! Froggy works hard to make the perfect valentine for someone special….his MOM!
6. The Berenstain Bears’ Funny Valentine, by Stan & Jan Berenstain:
The perfect book for teaching about friendship for Valentine’s Day. I love the character lessons taught in the Berenstain Bears books, and this one is no exception!
7. The Biggest Valentine Ever, by Steven Kroll:
Another favorite for the holiday! All of the books in this series follow the adventures of two mice friends who are both extremely competitive.
8. There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose, by Lucille Colandro:
Another fun book from the Old Lady Series. My students love these crazy books so much! We work on sequencing, comprehension, vocabulary, and more. Jenn from Crazy Speech World has a great companion to this book that we use. You can find it HERE.
9. Will You Be My Valenswine? by Teresa Bateman:
An adorable book about a pig on the farm looking for a Valentine. It’s full of rhyming words, figurative language, and excellent vocabulary!
10. Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse, by Laura Numeroff:
A precious little board book perfect for young students in Pre-K! I love how it introduces the character of Mouse as well as valentine vocabulary in brightly illustrated pictures!
11. Love Monster, by Rachel Bright:
A super cute book that is a student favorite! It’s perfect for teaching about inclusion, being different, and fitting in.
12. A Crankenstein Valentine, by Samantha Berger:
A super funny book about a boy who becomes cranky thanks to the yucky day of love! My boys love this one!
13. The Day It Rained Hearts, by Felicia Bond:
A precious book about sharing, being thoughtful, and friendship!
14. Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine, by Herman Parish:
Filled with funny figurative language that your students will love! My daughter has fallen in love with Amelia Bedelia thanks to this book. We’ve used it for language therapy and in our social skills group….so fun!
15. Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine, by Barbara Park:
A great book for older students! I love the Junie B. Jones books and my students do also! It can easily be read over a few different sessions, too!
Which amazingly LOVEly Valentine books for speech therapy did I leave off the list? Let me know!!
