Secret Pizza Party!!!

Have you read the book Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin? It is SUPER cute. My librarian recommended it to me (sign you are an SLP... when your librarian only recommends children's books to you) and I knew this would be a hit with my kids. You can check this book out here {Amazon affiliate link provided for your convenience}:

For those of you who are familiar with Adam Rubin's work, you know that his stories are very silly with great illustrations. Here is a brief summary of this book: Raccoon loves pizza! Unfortunately, people always chase him away from pizza with brooms. Raccoon and the narrator decide to throw a secret pizza party so Raccoon can finally get himself some pizza. Raccoon wears a disguise and fools the pizza man into giving him some pizza. He makes it past some obstacles (including Raccoon-Sniffing Broom-Bots!) and goes home to his secret pizza party. However, the party ends up being not so secret. Everybody shows up to the party in Raccoon masks! Raccoon only fools the party goers for so long until they find him and he runs away with the pizza.

Here is what I like about this book:

The illustrations - The pictures tell a story by themselves. The pictures are often just as funny as the words!
Rich vocabulary - There is a good mix of Tier II an III vocabulary words in here, such as "convenient" and "enthusiast" and terms like "guest of honor". The author is also very descriptive. He describes the best part about pizza to be "the gooey cheesy-ness, salty pepperoni-ness, sweet tomato-ness, and crispity, crunchity crust."
It's just silly - Seriously. Raccoon-Sniffing Broom-Bots. This is the type of story my kids request again and again because they get such a kick out of it.

Check out my companion to go along with this book. I recommend using it with Pre-K through 3rd grade. It includes activities for both language and articulation.

(I may be biased... but isn't Raccoon so cute?)

Here is a peak at what is included:

This story mat with picture scenes (in color and black and white) is great for sequencing and retelling. I love sending these back to class or home with students to work on retelling the story later.

There is also a mini-book for additional practice with sequencing and retelling. I like to focus on a book across a few sessions and will often do a story mat after reading the book and a mini-book the next session. The last page of this mini-book has a prediction question where students can write and/or draw what they think will happen to Raccoon.

As I mentioned before, I love the vocabulary in this book. Here are some vocabulary cards with definitions and vocabulary matching cards. There is also a black and white homework or independent work page included.

Compare and Contrast Pizzas! The story goes into detail about "regular" vs "secret" things - like a secret pizza party or a secret handshake. Sometimes secret things can be more fun! There are a few compare and contrast pages included, as well as one blank to write in your own.

I often have mixed groups or students who are working on both language and articulation. Use these quick print sheets for students to listen for their sounds while listening to the story and color/dot art pizzas! (Includes /s/, /r/, /l/, /sh/, /ch/, /th/, /f/, /v/, /k/, and /g/)