Do you have a favourite reference book? – Strange question, I know. But, I like having (and think it is important to have) reference books to guide my clinical practice. It helps me know that I am delivering effective, evidence-based interventions with my late talkers. But, with so many books to choose from, it can be hard to know which ones to invest in, right? So, to help you pick suitable books for your early intervention practice, I’ve put together this list of the top ten books for Early Intervention SLPs/SLTs.
Please Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means I earn a small amount of commission if you purchase any of the books listed in this post. Thank you for supporting my website in this way.
A note about Amazon links: Please be aware, the links are set up to redirect to your local Amazon site. This means, if some books are not available in your country, you will be redirected to a book or product with a similar title. Please double-check before purchasing as you may not be getting the book I mentioned in the post. Many of the books are shown in the images in this post, so you can see which cover to look for. If you’re in the UK, you may need to purchase via Amazon.com instead, as most of the books are available on there and do ship to the UK.
The Top Ten Books for Early Intervention SLPs:
1) ‘Early Intervention Every Day‘ by Crawford and Weber.
This book is fantastic. It is great for Speech Therapists, and other EI providers. The book clearly breaks down various goal areas and daily routines. It gives practical solutions, tips, and ideas for all areas throughout the book. It is easy to read and incredibly helpful for therapy planning and delivery. I highly recommend it!- I genuinely think this is one of those books that every early intervention SLP/SLT should own! View on Amazon.
2) ‘The Early Childhood Coaching Handbook‘ by Rush and Shelden.
This is the second edition (published 2020). I like that this book has current research related to parent-coaching and that it provides useful tips and advice throughout. The book has a variety of scenarios that you may encounter as an EI therapist, for example, working with families who are not engaging in therapy, and it has scripts and tips to guide you in how to manage these. There are additional PDFs you can download and complete too. This is a really helpful book for all early intervention SLPs/SLTs, particularly if you focus on parent-coaching. View on Amazon.
3) ‘Late Talkers: Language Development, Interventions, and Outcomes‘ by Rescorla and Dale.
This book is great for learning about a range of topics related to late language emergence. Several topics are covered, with research and implications for clinical practice clearly explained. I think every early intervention SLP/SLT would benefit from reading/owning this book! View on Amazon.
4) ‘Routines-based Early Intervention‘ by R.A. McWilliam.
This early intervention textbook provides guidance for therapists which supports them to deliver effective routines-based early intervention sessions. There are self-tests included throughout the book, so you can test your knowledge on each topic, too. There is also information about setting appropriate goals for early intervention, as well as checklists and resources to support the approach. View on Amazon.
5) ‘From Birth to Five Years‘ by M. Sheridan.
I believe this book should be on every paediatric Speech Therapist’s bookshelf. This book provides a thorough breakdown of speech, language, social communication, and motor skills from birth to 5 years old. It also comes with checklists and extra information which is useful for clinical practice, for example, there is additional information about vision and hearing. This is one of those essential books for early intervention SLPs/SLTs. View on Amazon.
6) ‘Understanding Your Toddler‘ by A. Marinovich, M.A., CCC-SLP (@LearnwithLess)
This book is excellent. It includes research and information related to child development and early intervention. There are activity ideas and developmental information for every month from one to three years. The activities included use daily routines, or materials and objects commonly found at home, so you don’t need to purchase anything else; making it perfect for home-based early intervention sessions. This book is great for parents too. There is also a baby version available with ideas and information from birth to one. You can find out more about these books, and the ‘Learn with Less’ curriculum and philosophy here: https://learnwithless.com/.
7) ‘My Toddler Talks‘ by K. Scanlon, M.A., CCC-SLP (@scanlonspeech).
This book is great for early intervention SLPs/SLTs and parents. It comes with a range of play ideas, for common toys and games. There are language strategies explained and embedded throughout, too, which makes it perfect for therapy planning. There are also additional lists and ideas to support therapy planning and delivery. You can find out more here: https://www.scanlonspeech.com/ or view it on Amazon here.
8) ‘Playing with Purpose’ by E. Cohen, M.A., CCC-SLP (Tandem Speech, @tandemspeech)
This is another one of those books that I think every early intervention SLP/SLT and parent should own. It gives an explanation of milestones and strategies related to early language development, and play skills. I love all the play/activity ideas in this resource, and how they are clearly explained; it makes therapy planning really easy. You can find out more about ‘Playing with Purpose’, and order your own copy (printed or eBook) here: http://tandemspeechtherapy.com/.
9) ‘Thirty Million Words‘ by Dana Suskind, M.D.
This book is a great read for all paediatric therapists, but it is definitely one of those books that all early intervention SLPs/SLTs should read. It provides a thorough overview of research and information related to early speech, language, and hearing development. It talks about how to create the best language environments for children, and the impact on speech and language skills when this doesn’t happen. A really informative book that belongs on every paediatric therapist’s bookshelf! View on Amazon here.
10) ‘The Early Intervention Handbook’ by The SLT Scrapbook (@thesltscrapbook).
The Early Intervention Handbook is a resource that I created to support my own clinical practice. It is available as an instant digital download in my TpT store here. The EI Handbook includes an overview of recent research related to early intervention, including parent-coaching, parent-implemented interventions, routines-based interventions, play-based interventions, and more. The EI Handbook also includes milestones for a range of speech and language skills, as well as a huge range of information, tips, and ideas for different skills. In addition to the research, there is a play-based therapy section, which covers how to use 24 different language strategies with thirty toys/games, and each one comes with a variety of play ideas. There are over 200 play ideas included! A routines-based therapy section is also included; this covers twenty-one daily routines, and how to use the 24 language strategies with them.
This resource is for early intervention SLPs/SLTs, to help with the planning and delivery of parent-coaching/early intervention sessions. However, although it is not technically a book, this is another must-have resource for early intervention SLPs/SLTs. You can check it out in my TpT store here. (This resource was created by me and is for sale in my store, therefore I make money from the purchase of this item).
More Books Early Intervention SLPs Should Own…
I asked my followers on Instagram which books they felt every Early Intervention SLP/SLT should own. Here are their recommendations:
- ‘It Takes Two to Talk’- Hanen
- ‘More Than Words’- Hanen
- ‘The Verbal Behavior Approach’- Dr Mary Lynch Barbera
- ‘The Cow Says Moo’- V. McErlean and M. Bythell
- ‘Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers’- Laura Mize
- ‘Three Little Pigs 2.0’- K. Delude.
- ‘Talking with Your Toddler’- T. Laikko and L. Laikko
A Final Tip for Finding Books for Early Intervention SLPs
Finally, I thought it would be helpful to share some quick tips for purchasing books at affordable prices. As we all know, the cost can quickly add up, so I thought it would be useful for me to share how I find books at lower prices.
- Firstly, purchase books second-hand where possible. Try looking on Buy/Sell/Trade groups on Facebook, or on sites such as Gumtree or Craigslist.
- Secondly, although you can get many of these books from Amazon (check out my storefront here- affiliate link), I recommend that you don’t just buy from Amazon! Search around various book retailers to find the most reasonable prices.
- Additionally, you can try second-hand sales; sometimes you can get lucky at second-hand stores or garage sales.
- Lastly, purchase during sales where possible. Although published textbooks may not go on sale often, those written by individual therapists (such as ‘Playing with Purpose’, ‘The EI Handbook’ and ‘Understanding Your Toddler’) may go on sale more often. So follow those SLPs on social media to keep up to date with any sale news!
There you have it. My list of the Top Ten Books for Early Intervention SLPs. If you have any other books you think I should add to the list, let me know!
If you want to see my 8 favourite websites for evidence-based practice, check out this post.