My whole life I have enjoyed reading, and as a teacher and parent, I have tried to pass that on. One way I do this is by celebrating special events with picture books. My son and I recently spent some time at the Saratoga Springs Library looking through some Halloween books to share with all of you. Our favorite book from the Library was Over the Hollow. I liked that it had rhyming and counting and was very engaging for young children. Our other favorite was One Spooky Night. I bought this one for my son for his first Halloween. It rhymes throughout and I love the illustrations.
Take a look below to learn more about these books and others that we read!
Top Picks: Halloween Books for kids!
- National Geographic: Celebrate Halloween with Pumpkins, Costumes and Candy, by Deborah Heiligman
This is a great non-fiction book about Halloween for kids. There are many photographs from around the world of how people celebrate Halloween. It also shares a brief history of the holiday and how many of the current traditions came to be.
- Heebie-Jeebie Jamboree, by Mary Ann Fraser
A short story about a brother and a sister who find two tickets to the “Heebie-Jeebi Jamboree”. It is a carnival filled with Halloween creatures all celebrating Halloween. At one point the pair get separated, but all works out in the end, when the “Heebie-Jeebi Jamboree” disappears until next year.
- In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting
A cute rhyming story that covers all aspects of a spooky Halloween! The reader follows two characters as they go through a “house where the scary ones hide”. At first it all seems real, but in the end we discover that it was a Halloween display.
Hallowilloween: Nefarious Silliness From Calef Brown
A collection of silly Halloween Poems. Perfect if you want to read a few at a time leading up to Halloween.
- Cinderhazel By Deborah Nourse Lattimore
A Halloween version of Cinderella, Cinderhazel likes to be dirty so her stepsisters and stepmother tell her not to go to the Halloween witches ball. When the ball begins the prince is nowhere to be found, in the meantime Cinderhazel’s witchy fairy godmother arrives and sends her to the ball. When she arrives the prince comes out of hiding and it turns out he likes being dirty too!
*While this book is no longer in print it can be found at local libraries.
Halloween Night on Shivermore Street, By Pam Pollack
Three children go to a Halloween party on Shivermore Street and partake in some Halloween games. They are in for a great surprise when the clock strikes “13″ and all of the other guests take off their masks. They discover that they might be the only humans at the party! A fun story that has some rhyming, counting and colorful illustrations.
*While this book is no longer in print it can be found at local libraries.
- Over in the Hollow, By Rebecca Dickinson
A fun Halloween counting book that includes some rhyming. You’ll find all of the usual Halloween creatures in this book, mummies, black cats, ghosts, owls, vampires, bats, witches and more! As the numbers build there are more and more young creatures learning to do what they do best!
- One Spooky Night: A Halloween Adventure by Kate Stone
A rhyming story about a child that is on his way to a Halloween Party. As he makes his way there he comes across some spooky creatures but he’s not scared! The illustrations are what makes this story special. It has semi-transparent pages that display a portion of the next page and cut outs that build upon each other.
We hope you enjoy some of these titles with your children! If you have any special Halloween books you like to read with your family, please share!
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My name is Jennifer Bloomingdale, I am a former teacher and currently a stay at home mom to my 9 month old son. As a teacher I greatly enjoyed developing interactive and creative content for my students. I hope to continue doing that in one way or another, as content editor for SaratogaMama and tutoring. For more information about my professional background and tutoring please feel free to look at my Digital Portfolio.
Thanks for such a great list. My daughter loves Halloween so much that even if we don’t get to read all these books before Oct. 31, we’ll add them to our list to try to get at the library. We’ve stumbled upon “Cinderhazel” before … we loved it, too!
Thanks for the comment Tara! Happy Halloween to you and your family.