Porkenstein, by Kathryn Lasky, is a great book SLPs will love to read! The book has great illustrations, is useful for a variety of ages, and a really fun plotline that lends itself well to address a variety of speech/language therapy goals. You will love this book!
Book Summary:
Dr. Smart Pig, one of the 3 Little Pigs, is lonely and decides to invent a friend for Halloween. He makes mistakes and lots of funny creatures result in his search for a friend.
Tips for Goals:
Emotions & Body Language
- Elicit vocabulary for emotions while looking at the illustrations before reading.
- Ask why he felt this way after reading the page.
Friendship
- Do you think it is a good idea to invent a
friend? Why or why not? - What qualities did Dr. Smart Pig want in a friend?
- Would you want a friend like that?
- Did he get a friend with those qualities? How do you know?
Inferences
- Who were Dr. Smart Pig’s brothers?
- Why did he want a wolf-proof friend?
- Why did he think that inventing a friend wasn’t such a good idea after all?
- Why do you think Porkenstein ate so much?
- How did the stories about the enormous pig get started?
- Why was the wolf drooling outside Dr. Smart Pig’s house?
- Why did Dr. Smart Pig whisper when he saw the wolf?
- Why were there just boots outside the door? What happened to the wolf?
- Why did Dr. Smart Pig decide that Porkenstein was a true friend?
Describing Vocabulary:
There are many describing words in this book: famous, bigger, biggest, better, mysteriously, wrong, new, less, warm, rounded, corkscrew, starving, giant, enormous, incredible, huge, rumbling, scuffling, creaking, long, furry, loud, drooling, creaky, empty, lucky.
- Teach this vocabulary in context.
- What sense do you use?
- Name # more things that can be described this way.
Articulation:
L SOUNDS in this book:
lonely, laboratory, shall, absolutely, squealed, chemicals, leaped, less, salt, later, tail, ceiling, I’ll, still, last, almost, life, table, like, jelly, swallowed, dribbling, all, including, long, miles, talking, incredible, drool, himself, meal, Halloween, drooling, little, old, lady, long, wolf, licked, fellow, listened, scuffling, rumbling, belch, silence, disbelief, smiled, believe, let’s, closer.
S/Z SOUNDS in this book:
smart, famous, since, sadly, excited, his, friends, is, suddenly, was, absolutely, squealed, mixed, some, chemicals, raced, mysteriously, something, squirted, this, less, salt, hours, see, snout, corkscrew, wasn’t, has, wings, upside, ceiling, closer, still, last, almost, sunset, grunts, biggest, seen, starving, gasped, asked, swallowed, himself, such, jars, house, curtains, dust, bugs, it’s, Porkenstein, monster, stories, spread, soon, miles, enormous, said, just, sunset, pig’s, first, outside, fangs, ears, dress, whispered, brothers, voice, thighs, inside, listened, frozen, suddenly, scuffling, sound, silence, gasped, disbelief, smiled, boots, just, let’s, so, costumes.
R SOUNDS in this book:
year, brother, tomorrow, ever, friends, inventor, never, ran, laboratory, bigger, better, proof, beaker, raced, mysteriously, squirted, dear, cried, wrong, aquarium, incubator, warm, garden, hours, later, peered, rounded, corkscrew, closer, creature, doctor, try, closer, meter, threw, heard, grunts, another, there, starving, over, dribbling, more, smart, worried, after, jars, every, garbage, curtains, doormat, rug, chair, neighbors, Porkenstein, monster, stories, spread, enormous, heard, incredible, drool, first, trick-or-treater, cry, furry, under, her, dress, whispered, fear, brothers, creaky, sure, frozen, rumbling, pair, where, better, true, forever, never, hungry, replied.
For another great Halloween book, check out this post.
Do you like this book?
