Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year: the decorations, the candy, the costumes and the spooky stories, of course! My little ones like a thrill, but they are not quite ready for a real scare. These picture books will get your whole family into the Halloween spirit and introduce them to some classic "creatures" without the screams of terror.
Ghosts in the House!: When a little girl and her cat move into an old house, there's just one problem: ghosts everywhere! Adorable, transparent, floating ghosts. This resourceful little witch creates new jobs for the ghosts to make a cozy new home.
As the generous witch in Room on the Broom flies along with her cat, she loses first her hat, then her bow, then her wand. Helpful animals retrieve her items and are rewarded with a ride on the broom until they come face to face with a mean, red, fire-breathing dragon.
In the rhyming counting book Ghost in the House, "There's a ghost in the house/in the creepy haunted house/on this dark spooky night all alone..." But not for long! He's joined by a mummy, a skeleton, a monster and a witch who aren't afraid of anything, until they meet the most frightening creature of all.
City kids, whose only experience with picking pumpkins may be pointing to one at the grocery store, will love the classic Pumpkin, Pumpkin, which brings young readers into Jamie's garden. He plants the seeds, and watches them sprout and grow into huge pumpkins just right for carving.
The adorable child in I Am A Witch's Cat knows her mom is a good witch and she can prove it. There are "strange potion bottles in the bathroom," "jars of eyeballs and green fingers" bought at the store and even a broomstick that "whirls" around the room. Amazingly intricate miniature collage illustrations really make this a magical read. Follow this one up with the newly published sequel, Happy Halloween, Witch's Cat!
What's your favorite Halloween book treat?
Add a comment to: Spooky and Sweet: These Books Are a Halloween Treat