Dr. Suzy Lederer, aka Dr. Suze to her students, is one of three finalists in the competition for children’s books. Dr. Lederer, Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Adelphi University, utilized her 25 years of professional experience in speech, language and emergent literacy to develop her book, “I Can Say That – Two Stories to Encourage Early Vocabulary and Literacy Development.” This book and its accompanying interactive CD-ROM encourage speech/language skills by using proven language-learning techniques that are effective for all children. I Can Say That previously received an iParenting Media Award.

Speech-language pathologist, Lavelle Carlson, is another North Texas Book Festival finalist with her book, “EEK! I Hear a Squeak and the Scurrying of Little Feet.” The book and accompanying interactive CD-ROM utilize many multi-sensory methods of reading remediation. “EEK! I Hear a Squeak” also helps young children learn the early skill of visualizing that is needed for later reading comprehension. This book also has many references to favorite childhood stories, which can be used as a starting point for further discussion.

May is an ideal time for these two children’s books by speech pathologists to be named as finalists in the Texas Book Festival competition as it is Better Speech and Hearing Month. The national American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and state associations are working to create awareness of how speech-language and storybooks are partners for literacy.