Our Halloween book collection is one that is far from scary but still very festive and fun. The books our boys love to read in October before Halloween are mostly silly rather than scary but still often include Halloween themes like trick-or-treating, pumpkins, costumes, goofy monsters and more. I thought a roundup of some of our favorite Halloween books appropriate for kids might be of interest for those out there with little ones who might enjoy getting into the Halloween spirit bookworm style!
Halloween Books for Kids
Room on the Broom is one of our absolute favorite Halloween books. The rhyming is equal parts smart and adorable and the story lends itself well to adding in fun noises to keep kids engaged. With animals and a friendly witch as the main characters and a not-too-spooky dragon in the mix, Room on the Broom is Halloween kid gold! We love this author/illustrator duo’s other books (The Gruffalo and The Snail and the Whale are two of our all-time favorites) and this Halloween book is a slam dunk and an almost-nightly read from September through October in our house.
You know those books you read as a child that you cannot wait to read with your own kids? That’s THIS book for me! I still remember stumbling upon The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything at Target when Chase was tiny and I instantly bought it because it was nostalgic for me but also a great kid-friendly read. The story incorporates repetition that our boys get really into and they truly have this one memorized! It’s also an easy one to add movements and silly voices to when you read aloud which only increases a little one’s enjoyment of this not-too-spooky story.
Ten Timid Ghosts is a fun countdown counting book that centers around a witch who wants to move into a haunted house but first must scare away 10 timid ghosts who live there through various clever schemes. (Our boys really love playing dectitive and looking at the pictures to help determine how exactly the witch is trying to fool the ghosts!) The tenth ghost is quite clever as well and may not let the witch get away with her ghost eviction goals!
This book is a newer addition to our collection but it’s a gem of a find! The illustrations are beautiful and the story follows a little boy named Tim who carved a jack-o-lantern named Jack for Halloween one year. After Halloween has come and gone, Jack starts to rot so Tim carries him out to the garden. The story follows Tim and Jack through the year as Jack decomposes. Then, in the spring a sprout appears where Jack once was and Tim cares for the sprout all the way through the summer and fall when pumpkins emerge and Jack comes to life again!
One of my teacher friends gave this book to the boys and it’s such a fun read! A little witch is determined to get herself a really creepy pet… absolutely nothing cute and adorable allowed! She cycles through a few traditionally creepy pets before a little furry surprise ends up on her doorstep and has her reconsidering her need for a spooky pet.
This story is about a little ghost who is not the same as his mom, dad and all of his not-too-friendly ghost friends. While they’re all made out of sheets and can easily whirl and twirl in the sky, the little ghost is made out of a quilt and much too heavy to fly quickly like everyone he knows. On Halloween something happens to the little quilt ghost — something that could never happen to a ghost made out of a sheet — that has him thinking maybe being a little different from everyone else is a good thing afterall.
Our kids are huge Pete the Cat fans, so I had a feeling Trick or Pete would be a hit when my mom gave it to them years ago. It’s a lift-the-flap style book (always a hit!) and each flap reveals things Pete sees while out trick-or-treating that aren’t as spooky as he initially thought they might be.
Splat the Cat always makes our boys giggle! In this Halloween book, Splat is on a mission to pick out a perfect pumpkin with his little mouse friend, Seymour. It’s a task that proved to be trickier (and sillier!) than he imagined and our boy love the goofy illustrations in this book.
For those with slightly older kids, this Weird but True! Hallowen book by National Geographic is the first book Chase (age 9) reached for to flip through when we unpacked our Halloween books this year. It’s filled with fun, strange facts, many of which are totally out-there and it easily piques the interest of curious kids.
Though most trees dream of becoming Christmas trees, this creative Halloween picture book centers around one grumpy tree who doesn’t like holiday lights, decorations or people and is relieved to be left behind at the end of the holiday season. As the years pass, children begin to play on the neglected tree and enjoy using their imaginations to turn the tree into various make-believe things and the tree’s heart begins to change. As the children’s parents consider chopping the tree down one year, the kids come together in an effort to save their beloved tree. In addition to being a sweet story, The Halloween Tree also has an underlying subtle message for kids about valuing things that are different and incorporates diversity in the parents and children in the illustrations which, as a parent, I appreciate.
This is a Halloween story about The Bad Seed! The Bad Seed is bummed because he loves Halloween but waited too long to choose a costume. He worries he won’t have a show-stopping costume that will blow everyone away so he tricks everyone into thinking Halloween is delayed until the next day. And then a fellow seed, a pumpkin seed, talks to him about the pressures of Halloween and what really matters on the fun and spooky holiday.
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Bo the Bat by Alma Hammond, Illustrated by Zuzana Svobodova
If your kids are animal lovers and enjoy learning about creatures, Bo the Bat is a Halloween-themed read they’ll enjoy! It’s a story about a friendly bat that wants to trick-or-treat with children but they’re all scared of him so he sets out to tell them about all the awesome things bats can do. The story is cute (though the writing is admittedly not the best but our kids don’t seem to mind!), the pictures are fun and colorful and the end of the book includes bat facts so curious little minds can learn more about bats! It might irk you a little as a parent to read because the writing is a little off, but our kids still really enjoy it.
Halloween Books for Toddlers
Below you’ll find the Hallween books that were huge hits with our boys when they were toddlers. (They’re books Rhett, age 4, still loves!)
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Boo! by Leslie Patricelli
I have vivid memories of Rhett carrying this Boo! book all over our house with him when he was a toddler. It’s a sweet, not-at-all-scary read our boys all enjoyed with pictures they loved (especially the jack-o-lantern faces and the costumes) and it’s an easy one for adults to use to engage kids with questions and pointing.
This is a lift-the-flap book our boys loved as toddlers and it’s still a favorite for Rhett (age 4). Rhet tloves guessing what his favorite Daniel Tiger characters are going to dress up as for Halloween and frequently requests this book before bed at night right now.
For grabby little hands, Never Touch a Monster is a slam dunk! While it’s not technically a Halloween book, the monster theme is fun and still feels festive. Every page of this book has something to touch and feel and with vibrant pictures and silly rhymes, it’s a winner for toddlers who want to interact with their stories.
Like the book mentioned above, The Monster at the End of This Book is not strictly a Halloween book but fits within a monster theme so we’re going to roll with it since monsters and Halloween go together in my book! This silly story cracks our boys up and they get so into it every time we read it!
If you have little ones in your life who love mazes, this Follow Me Halloween book is a neat little find. My mom sent it to Chase when he was a toddler and it is a book all three boys have loved. The book includes a super short story about each maze on every page and then little ones use their fingers to make their way through not-too-tricky mazes. It’s interactive Halloween fun!
This book is a toddler’s dream. It has 50+ flaps they can peek under and proved to be a hit with all three of our boys beginning when they were just over a year old. Halloween Is Here is not at all spooky and perfect for introducing Halloween, costumes, pumpkin carving and the concept of trick-or-treating to little ones.
Question of the Day
For those with little ones, do you have any favorite Halloween books in your house?
