It is that time of year, when there is a chill in the air, when cardigans become your fashion staple and an afternoon is made all the better with a pumpkin spice latte. When October rolls around it marks the start of the holiday season. For years, I have been collecting books for the petites for the holidays. Some holidays I have just a few books, others I have quite a few. Halloween is one of those holidays. Yesterday, marking the first of October, I pulled out the holiday book box and was rather surprised to see just how many books we’ve collected over the past five years. I am so excited to share with you some of our absolute favorite books for Halloween.
Happy Halloween, Biscuit!, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, is a favorite of my petites. This cute little book has flaps that fold out to find a hidden Biscuit; our lovable curious little pup is certainly a favorite of the petites. It has thicker pages making it easier for smaller hands to turn the pages and explore the flaps in search of Biscuit.
Lady Bug Girl and the Dress Up Dilemma, by Jacky Davis and David Soman is another fabulous book about Ladybug Girl. This book highlights the dilemma of what to be for Halloween. Last year this was such a success that my daughter decided to be Ladybug girl – after all she really is the best. I will say this is a little bit different from the other Ladybug girl book formats, there is not as much plot as Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, or Ladybug Girl at the Beach. However, if you love Lulu, like we do, then you will love this title too.
Sweet and Spooky Halloween, this Disney Princess Halloween book, with its glittery cover and princess laden pages will be a hit with any princess loving petite. This book features: Ariel, Belle, Cinderella and Snow White. All about what each princess does to help contribute to the Halloween festivities.
Olivia and the Haunted Hotel, in story, Olivia and her friends use their imagination to play hotel during a sleepover, they use the thunder and lightning storm as the perfect backdrop for their Haunted Hotel. Olivia’s brother is quite sneaky and adds some spooky fun to their game.
Mouse’s First Halloween – You might be familiar with Lauren Thompson’s series of books Mouse’s First. This little mouse is very nervous about all of the shadows that he is seeing until he uncovers what they really are and then he isn’t so scared after all. (the one we have is a hard cover, this link is for the board book)
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie, this is part of the Picture the Season books, by Jill Esbaum. This non-fiction book is about all things pumpkin. It would be a great book to use if you plan to plant a pumpkin seed and see what grows, or if your petites are curious about where pumpkins come from and how they grow.
Inside a House that is Haunted, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, is a level 2 reader. Perfect for 1st or 2nd grade readers. It is a really fun story, that has repeating patterns (similar to an old lady who swallowed a fly) in the wording and great context clues in the illustrations for your young reader to pick out the new words. It is really fun read along book.
Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween, leave it to Melanie Watt to create another hysterical Scaredy Squirrel for our reading pleasure. This time he needs to come up with some very serious safety rules to be prepared for Halloween. I love all of her books, and encourage you to check them out if you haven’t yet. You will be in hysterics reading the story to your petites.
The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches, written by Alice Low with illustrations by Jane Manning, is a favorite in our house. This book has some of the cutest illustrations of a little witch, Wendy. She has two older sisters who aren’t very kind named Polly and Wog. It is broken into five chapters, perfect for 2nd to 3rd grade readers. This book is so sweet, the two older sister end up needed the help of their little sister to save the day. I am already getting excited to read this one tonight. This continues to be one of out family favorites!
Dem Bones, by Bob Barner, this book is so silly, I didn’t know if my daughter would like it, but she loves it. It was read more times than I could count the last two Halloweens. When she saw it yesterday she started singing the song. Basically it is an illustrated version of the classic song. The really fun part about this book, is that is has these little captions that give you information about the bone featured in that verse of the song. As a three and four-year old she wasn’t really interested in the anatomy lesson provided, but we will see this year. A great book that offers more than just song lyrics.
Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson and illustrations by Axel Scheffler is one of my absolute favorite Halloween books. I love the rhyming and the illustrations. This book is so much fun to read and enjoy with your petites. It’s quite the magical broom that takes lots of friends for an exciting ride with an unexpected ending. This is a perfect book to add to your Halloween collection.
Creepy Carrots!, by Aaron Reynolds, let me first start by saying, this book is dark, I would suggest this for older kids. It could be frightening for some of our younger petites. Okay, you’ve been warned. This Caldecott Honor-winning picture book is really funny, Jasper has been ripping carrots from the ground, until he notices that they are following him; they are everywhere. I personally loved how the story was black and white except for the carrots. I could see this being a fun read for a 2nd or 3rd grade cause and effect lesson.
Bones: Skeletons and How They Work, by Steven Jenkin, is a great non-fiction book, not necessarily for Halloween, but I wanted to add it in because I love this book and you can make the connection to Dem Bones. My petite was interested in skeletons and bones and I thought why not let her explore this Caldecott Honor Award Winner. This book shows a comparative view of bones from the human and animal bodies. This book is geared for 2nd to 5th graders and is so informative I think it could even be used with older kids. The book breaks down the body into parts, comparing hand bones of humans and animals to the full skeletons. It has pull out pages that make it even more fun to get on the floor and explore.
Bats at the Library, by Brian Lies is going to be a new favorite in our house. I picked this fabulous book up yesterday and I have already read it three times by request. It is about bats who are bored and sneak into the library after hours and explore. Brian Lies, does an amazing job with his illustrations, they bring this story to life. These little bats have so much fun they lose track of time and suddenly realize dawn is coming. You must check this book out, I will not be putting this one away with the rest of the Halloween books in November.
For the tiniest of petites…these board books will not disappoint
Five Black Cats, by Patricia Hegarty is so cute, we love the little black cat illustrations. The five cats stick together and go exploring through the town. They meet a little white mouse who leads them to a very fun party with lots of colorful treats to eat. My one year old likes pointing to the cats and turning the thicker pages on her own.
Halloween Faces, by Nancy Davis was a surprise. My daughters love this book. I do not use the word love lightly here, this book has tattered edges and has been thoroughly enjoyed. With fun pages that allow you to change the childrens masks from cat to vampire it is a favorite. I am sure your little ones will agree.
Frankenstein: An Anatomy Primer, by Jennifer Adams, I love these babylit books and what is not to love about learning anatomy from Frankenstein? Everything about this board book is so incredibly cute.
Dracula: A Counting Primer: let’s count castles, wolves, ships, heroes, tombstones and boxes (coffins). This classic remade into a board book is well worth your time to look into.
Five Little Pumpkins, by Dan Yaccarino, follows traditional “five little” songs, a really fun book to share with your little ones. The lyrical pattern to the words makes it an enjoyable read.
Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin, by Tad Hills is a very silly read about Duck and Goose who are on a mission to find a pumpkin. However, they are looking in some pretty silly places until they get a little help from their friend. As always the illustrations are fabulous. Sure to become a Halloween favorite.
Alright friends, that is our list of Halloween books that have been huge hits. I am sure that there are others out there that I haven’t come across yet, let me know, in the comments section, if I have left off one of your families favorites. I am always looking for another book to add to the petites collection.
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Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have created an absolutely lovely tale, so much more than a Halloween story, this is a book about inclusion, celebrating differences, working together, kindness and standing up to bullies. So you can see why we read it all the time, it is a fabulous story. Have I mentioned what a fantastic read aloud it is? It’s so much fun! The book is geared for preschool to second graders. This book has fantastic rhyming sentences (which is why it’s such a great read aloud) as well as suspense, which is a really fun introduction for petites about what a “Page Turner” means.
The Petite Stag 