Thirteen Halloween books, from not scary to a little bit scary
The books come out the first week of October and go back in the box on the first of November. These are the thirteen I read every year, in order of how brave you need to be.
There is a box in my hall closet marked October, and the grandchildren know where it is. Halloween books work the way the decorations do: part of the pleasure is that they only come out once a year. A book you have not seen since last fall is half new again, and a child who was too small for the witch last October is just right for her now. So I have sorted these by nerve rather than strictly by age. Start on the first shelf and move down when they ask for something spookier. They will ask.
Not scary at all
Board books and flaps. Pumpkins, costumes, and nothing that goes bump.
Spooky Pookie
Sandra Boynton
A small pig tries on one costume after another and cannot decide. It is about dressing up, not about being frightened, and it is exactly as long as a toddler's patience.
Little Blue Truck's Halloween
Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry
The truck gives his friends a ride to a party, and every animal is hiding under a flap in a costume. Babies like the flaps; two-year-olds like guessing who is under them.
Five Little Pumpkins
illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
The old counting rhyme about five pumpkins sitting on a gate. You will have it by heart after three readings, and so will they.
Where Is Baby's Pumpkin?
Karen Katz
A lift-the-flap hunt through the house for a missing pumpkin. Big sturdy flaps, bright pictures, and a happy ending on the last page.
A friendly shiver
Witches and ghosts, but the kind you would invite in. Good ones to read aloud with voices.
Room on the Broom
Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
A kind witch keeps dropping her things and keeps making room on her broom for whoever finds them. The rhyme carries you along, and the friends come through when it matters.
Big Pumpkin
Erica Silverman, illustrated by S.D. Schindler
A witch cannot get her pumpkin off the vine, and neither can a ghost, a vampire or a mummy. It takes the smallest one at the party to work out how. A lovely book about helping.
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
Linda Williams, illustrated by Megan Lloyd
She walks home through the woods followed by a pair of shoes, then pants, then a shirt — each with its own noise for the children to make. Best read to a group.
Ghosts in the House!
Kazuno Kohara
A girl moves into a haunted house, catches every ghost, and puts them through the wash. Drawn in just orange, black and white, and not frightening for a moment.
Click, Clack, Boo!
Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin
Farmer Brown does not care for Halloween and goes to bed early. The animals in the barn have other plans. For anyone who already loves the typing cows.
A little bit scary, on purpose
For the age that asks for a spooky one and then moves over to sit closer.
Creepy Carrots!
Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown
Jasper Rabbit loves the carrots in one particular field, until he becomes sure they are following him home. Funny and properly eerie at once, with an ending I will not give away.
Gustavo, the Shy Ghost
Flavia Z. Drago
Gustavo can walk through walls but cannot manage to say hello. A gentle story about shyness and making friends, set around the Day of the Dead, with pictures worth lingering over.
Leo: A Ghost Story
Mac Barnett, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Leo is a ghost nobody can see, until he meets a girl who takes him for an imaginary friend. Quiet and a little sad in the middle, and very good on what a real friend is.
Stumpkin
Lucy Ruth Cummins
A fine pumpkin with no stem watches every other pumpkin in the shop get chosen. Children feel this one keenly. The ending puts it right.
Let them be in charge of the page
The right amount of scary is the amount they chose. Read it in daylight the first time. Let them turn the pages, so they decide how fast the carrots get closer. If a hand goes over the eyes, stop and ask whether to keep going — the answer is nearly always yes. And if a book turns out to be too much, put it back in the box without any fuss. It will be exactly right next October.
- Out the first week of October
- Back in the box November first
- Daylight for the first reading
- They turn the pages
- Too scary goes back, no fuss
A book you only see in October is half new every year.
Your nearest independent bookshop or toy store will have most of these on a table by the door right now. You can look one up in our boutique directory.
One of the first-shelf books is all a baby needs for the whole holiday; I have written about the rest of a first Halloween separately. And a book is the best thing in a boo basket, at any age.
Children's boutiques near you
Independent children's boutiques and toy stores across the country, city by city — the places that will let you feel the fleece before you buy the lamb.
