Oooh, I do love reading at this time of year. From now until New Year’s, there are all sorts of themes and holidays to celebrate…and we have books for almost all of them. We’ve already shared our favorite fall books…here are some of our favorite Halloween books (and oh, yes — the day after Halloween we start reading Christmas books. And playing carols. We’re those people.)
14 great Halloween books for kids:
- It’s Halloween by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Marylin Hafner — I’ve been reading this book since I was little. It’s a collection of not-too-scary poems for kids, and a good book for beginning readers. The skeleton poem is one that will stick with you for…oh…let’s say thirty-something years.
- Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, illustrated by S. D. Schindler — A witch, who just wants a piece of pumpkin pie, learns to cooperate with a few other monsters.
- Georgie written and illustrated by Robert Bright — The classic, about an adorably shy little ghost and his friends.
- Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by S.D. Schindler — The hilarious story of a skeleton trying to cure his hiccups.
- The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, illustrated by Megan Lloyd — If you’re going to read it properly, this one involves lots of clapping, stomping, shaking and shivering…a great audience participation book.
- Five Pesky Pumpkins by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Viviana Garofoli — Perfect for toddlers and young preschoolers…the five pesky pumpkins disappear one at a time in this countdown book (spoiler alert: they’re all back at the end and they’re fine.)
- The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat by Stan Berenstain
- Happy Halloween, Biscuit! by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Pat Schories — The Biscuit series is great for beginning readers. And dang it, that doggy is cute!
- Clifford’s Halloween by Norman Bridwell
- Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, illustrated by Marc Simont — Nate the Great mysteries are perfect for beginning chapter-book readers…this one is solved by Nate’s great detective skills, and a giant plate of pancakes.
- Click Clack Boo! A Tricky Treat by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin — I love every book involving poor Farmer Brown and his sneaky barnyard animals. On Halloween, he just wants to put on his footy pajamas and go to bed. Oh, Farmer Brown! You should know better.
- How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara and G. Brian Karas — Mr. Tiffin and his students explore skip counting and estimation in a fun pumpkin-themed classroom experiment
- Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkinsby James Dean —We love Pete and his groovy, furry attitude. Now he brings it to a familiar rhyme just in time for Halloween.
- Corduroy’s Halloween by B.G. Hennessy, illustrated by Lisa McCue — A lift-the-flap book starring the adorable bear and his friends as they make their preparations for Halloween.
We break out “The Ugly Pumpkin” at Halloween and leave it out through Thanksgiving! That’s another good one, and thanks for sharing this list.
Thanks for sharing in the After School Linky Party! You’ve been featured this week in a Roundup of Halloween Activities! Here’s the link
http://theeducatorsspinonit.blogspot.com/2013/10/halloween-activities-for-kids-after.html
I’m featuring this today at The Measured Mom. Check it out if you’d like 🙂
Great list!!! I’ll be featuring it on Monday on my after school linky post!
Fun list! I’ll have to search for these for the girls! Thanks for sharing and linkin up to Sunday FUNday!
Great suggestions! I need to pick up a few more ‘scare free’ Halloween books for our boys.
You have two of our all time favorite books on there. Another we love is Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
I love book lists – thanks so much for sharing this with After School!
This is an awesome list – I want to look for Jack Prelutzky’s book! One of our Halloween favorites is Space Case. Thanks for sharing with Afterschool!
Thanks for linkin gup at the Lovely Ladies Linky! I’m featuring this on my facebook page today 🙂
I will admit I have children’s Halloween books in my living room and on my desk as decoration this time of year. AND I read them too.
Don’t forget Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian- a favorite of mine!
The comment is from Aunt Ruth-I don’t have a profile and that’s the only way I could publish a comment!
ha ha and hello! We haven’t tried that one yet, but I’m looking for it at the library next time we go!