If you celebrate Halloween in your classroom or homeschool, you’ll definitely want to check out these great Halloween picture books for some spooky and silly storytime fun!
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1. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything By Linda Williams: The repetition and onomatopoeia make this an excellent selection to read aloud. The book is spooky without being too scary for little ones.
2. Room on the Broom By Julia Donaldson: You may have seen this adorable story on Netflix, but did you know it was based on a book? We love the rhyming text in this story of friendship and teamwork.
3. Big Scary Monster By Thomas Docherty: Every time the big scary monster shouts “Boo!” the animals run away and he begins to feel lonely. The story takes an interesting and surprising turn and in the end the monster learns a lesson about being big and scary.
4. Skeleton Meets the Mummy By Steve Metzger: Sammy has to take a walk through the woods before he goes trick or treating and gets a bit nervous as he keeps hearing strange noises. This book has just the right amount of scary for young children with a funny ending to lighten the mood.
5. National Geographic Kids: Halloween By Laura Marsh: Finding a good nonfiction book about Halloween was a bit of a challenge, but I am always pleased with the information in National Geographic Readers. This book gives a quick explanations of Halloween origins and traditions in kid friendly terms.
6. The Spooky Wheels on the Bus By J. Elizabeth Mills: Song books are great for little kiddos because they easily catch on to the pattern for retelling. This Halloween version of the wheels on the bus also doubles as a counting book with one spooky bus, two white wipers, three noisy cats, and more.
7. The Night Before Halloween By Natasha Wing: We love “The Night Before…” series from Natasha Wing. The books are not too long, or too short, have great rhythm and rhyme and adorable characters.
8. Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat By Doreen Cronin: Poor Farmer Brown is in for lots of tricks on Halloween in this sequel with all the same familiar characters as the original. An adorably silly Halloween read aloud.
9. Go Away Big Green Monster By Ed Emberley: This story is definitely a favorite in our house any time of year but especially around Halloween. Little ones love the bright colors and the interactive way that turning the die-cut pages makes the monster appear then disappear. A great choice for kids that may be a bit afraid of monsters.
10. There Was an Old Mummy Who Swallowed a Spider by Jennifer Ward: This Halloween version of the familiar “There Was an Old Lady” song will have little ones laughing along at all the silly characters. The rhyming text and bright illustrations are perfect for this age group.
11. Scaredy-Cat, Splat! By Rob Scotton: If you are familiar with Splat, you have to add this book to your Halloween reading list. Splat wants to win the scary costume contest, but just can’t seem to scare anyone. In the end his clumsiness turns out to be helpful and Splat may just get his wish after all.
12. The Hallo-Weiner By Dav Pilkey: Oliver the dachshund is a loveable little dog turned hero in this Halloween story. The other dogs love to make fun of him, especially when his mom dresses him up as a hot dog for Halloween. But when they are in trouble Oliver doesn’t hesitate to lend a helping paw and gain their respect in the process.
If you are still a little overwhelmed trying to decide which books to use and what skills to practice, I am taking all the guesswork out of that for you!
I created this Halloween: Read & Respond resource to go along with 5 of my favorite Halloween books above. It is the perfect way to strengthen comprehension and writing skills along with some fun craftivities to keep your kids engaged! And all of the activities are differentiated for K-2 and Common Core aligned.
Practice sequencing a story and narrative writing with The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything By Linda Williams.
Learn new vocabulary with Room on the Broom By Julia Donaldson.
Plus make this fun witch writing craft.
Make predictions with Big Scary Monster By Thomas Docherty.
Then practice persuasive writing.
Identify problem and solution with Skeleton Meets the Mummy By Steve Metzger.
Then make this adorable Trick or Treat craft and informative writing book all about trick or treat safety.
Practice finding supporting evidence and opinion writing with National Geographic Kids: Halloween By Laura Marsh.
You can grab all of these activities here Halloween: Read & Respond, happy fall!
A very nice recap and summaries for All the books you’ve mentioned. Thanks and a very nice collections though!
Children and Teen Books