Imagine your favorite kind of candy. Now imagine bunches of it landing in your Halloween basket.
Or: think about how fun it would be to have one of these great books as a trick-or-treat treat…
The littlest goblins in your haunted house will love reading Pumpkin Dad by Pascal Lemaître (Viking, $10.99). Ellis is full of magic tricks this Halloween, but her dad isn’t a slouch in that department. While she’s hocus-pocusing away, he decides to play a trick on her, one that scares Ellis a lot. This book is quick to read, and kids aged 3 to 5 will love seeing this kind of magic.
Who says Halloween is funny? Your child will, when you have Ha Ha Halloween by Jill Howarth (Penguin Workshop, $10.99). It’s a fun interactive book with activities, flaps to open, jokes to tell, and friendly monsters inside. Bonus: it’s a sturdy board book for kids 6 to 8 that’s made to last. Isn’t that booo-tiful?
Anticipation is almost as much fun as the real event, and in It’s Almost Time for Halloween! by Maisha Oso, illustrated by Tom Knight (Margaret K. McElderry Books / Simon & Schuster, $10.99), you’ll follow along with all the fun that the spooky night brings. Inside, there are even some Halloweeny things you might not think about — which might include what comes afterward, and kids aged 5 to 8 will love the reminder.
If your child’s costume isn’t yet determined, then Creepy Sheepy by Lucy Ruth Cummins, illustrated by Pete Oswald (Flamingo Books, $14.99) will be a hit. Sleepy Sheepy knows exactly what he wants to be on Halloween. But so does everyone else, and who wants to be like them? The solution to the same-costume conundrum is adorable for your 5-to-8-year-old.
If there’s a grumpy goblin in your home this year, Grizelda the Green Hates Halloween by A. A. Livingston, illustrated by Katya Longhi (Flamingo Books, $14.99) is what you want. Grizelda hates everything about this time of year, and she’ll do anything to destroy it, stop it, and ruin all the fun that other kids have. But when it backfires, well, it’s perfect for boys and ghouls aged 5 to 8.
And finally, for the older reader, there’s Haunted U.S.A. by Heather Alexander and Sam Kalda (Quarto, $24.99), a book full of places to visit that are full of scares. Check out the state you’re in for a fun day trip. Or look up the next state over and make it a weekend full of boos for youse. Each entry includes a nice-sized story of why the site’s noteworthy and why it’s so frightful. This book is a great read for kids ages 12 and up, and adults can enjoy it too.
If these six books aren’t enough for your spookiest reading sessions, then skulk on over to your favorite booooo-k store or libROARy and ask the staff there for more ideas. They’ll know exactly what’s tame enough for small kids, or what will keep a teen up all night, reading by flashlight. They’ve got Halloween books that are the sweetest of treats.
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