50 Best Halloween Books for Kids 

Halloween ABC by Jannie Ho
For those of you Halloween aficionados (you know who you are), share your enthusiasm with this board book for babies and toddlers. This book shows an alphabet of Halloween things like H for haunted house, M for mummy, R is for run, and T for trick or treat. Bright colors and clean illustrations.

The Night Before Halloween by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Cynthia Fisher
Kids love this fun remake of the Night Before Christmas poem. In this Halloween story, the monsters prepare for the big day…mummies put on new wraps, Count Dracula does his hair, the witches brew potions, and they all decorate the house. What will they do when humans come trick or treating? Cute, not scary!

Boo Who? by Ben Clanton
Boo is new at school and invisible. Literally. This means he has trouble playing most games — because of the whole being invisible thing. Tag doesn’t work. Neither does basketball. But he’s happy to learn that Hide-and-Seek works perfectly! Muted colors show expressive characters pairing perfectly with this sweet story about fitting in. A great story for anytime of year, not just Halloween season.

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Kids (and adults) adore this playful rhyming book about a generous witch riding on her broomstick with her cat. The wind blows so strongly that things start falling off like her hat. She lands and a dog helps her find the hat…he wonders if he can ride on her broom but is there room? Yes! One thing after another blows off and another animal helps and wants a ride. Will there still be room? A read aloud favorite for Halloween!

Ghosts In the House a Lift-the-Flap Book by Ammi-Joan Paquette, illustrated by Adam Record
This clever, funny Halloween counting book starts with one ghost. The ghost discovers (lift-the-flap) a skeleton in the closet and now there are two. Soon there are a total of five monsters prowling through the house. That is until they see a little boy. Yikes! Frightened, the monsters run for their lives.

Herbert’s First Halloween by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Steven Henry
Little Herbert is unsure about this whole Halloween thing. So his dad gently introduces him to the idea. After making him a tiger costume, the two make their own carved pumpkin. Trick or Treating goes so well, Herbert is excited about next year.  A gentle, quiet book that will help children feel more comfortable about the holiday.

There Was an Old Mummy Who Swallowed a Spider by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Steve Gray
You know the drill. There was an old ____ who swallowed a _____. This updated monster version leads up to a knock on the door and trick or treating. Kids will crack up at this Halloween story!

Halloween Night by Marjorie Dennis Murray, illustrations by Brandon Dorman
Using the familiar Night Before Christmas rhyme, this Halloween version describes zombies, ghosts, and witches scaring trick-or-treaters.

Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler, illustrations by Will Terry
Bonaparte is losing all his bones. =His friends, Franky Stein, Blacky Widow, and Mummicula try to help him but their glue, web, and bandages don’t help. When they see a dog with a bone, the friends realize that a bone-loving dog is just what Bonaparte needs. With his new dog, Bonaparte can go to school with confidence.

I Want to Be in a Scary Story by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jean Jullien
Little Monster wants to be in a scary story. In a conversation between the narrator and Little Monster, Little Monster admits that he MIGHT need the story to be a little less scary, maybe a funny story instead? The story actually turns out to be both scary and funny.

The Itsy Bitsy Pumpkin by Sonali Fry, illustrated by Sanja Rescek
Using the nursery rhyme “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” as inspiration, this Halloween story is about a pumpkin trying to find his way home. With a little help from a witch, the itsy bitsy pumpkin makes it back to his porch. Kids love that you can sing or read this darling pumpkin book to them.

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, illustrated by S.D. Schindler
How can the witch get the biggest, heaviest pumpkin off the vine for her Halloween meal? You’ll be surprised who can help! (Hint: It’s not the vampire or the ghost.)

The Pomegranate Witch by Denise Doyen, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
The children dream of snatching and eating the pomegranates but how can they when it’s owned by . . . The Pomegranate, Pomegranate, Pomegranate Witch? The battle lines are drawn. Just when you think you know what will happen, you are surprised! Delicious words and sensory images weave together in a lyrical, fun Halloween story.

A Teeny Tiny Halloween by Lauren L. Wohl, illustrated by Henry Cole
Fall is coming and the teeny tiny woman’s house is a bit scary when covered with so many leaves. So, she decides not to be afraid and bakes chocolate chip cookies. Outside, three costumed children play in the leaves then discover the house. Together they eat the cookies inside the warm, cozy house.

The Wompananny Witches Make One Mean Pizza by Jennie Palmer
The Wompananny Witches love cooking but are terrified by children. They accidentally put their feelings of fear and terror into a pizza; a pizza that escapes and wreaks havoc on the neighborhood. The witches must face their fears (children) and help the children stop the Mean Pizza. You’ll love the humor and sweet message of courage and friendship. This is another book that works year-round, not just on Halloween.

Just Say Boo! by Susan Hood
A good Halloween read-along book for a classroom of kids – where everyone can shout “Boo!” after each question like “If a yip and a yowl make you shiver and scowl, what do you say?” (“Boo!”)

Ten Creepy Monsters by Carey F. Armstrong-Ellis
Count down from 10 creepy monsters to 0 in this creepy rhyming book with ghoulish illustrations. Clever and entertaining with scary-ish Halloween illustrations.

Fright Club by Ethan Long
Fright Club has one last meeting before Halloween and Operation Kiddie Scare. But there’s a problem — cute creatures including a bunny want to join the Fright Club! What will the Fright Club do? We love this funny new Halloween book.

Happy Halloween Witch’s Cat! by Harriet Muncaster
What should the Witch’s Cat girl dress up as for Halloween? She and her mom, the good witch, visit a store to find a costume. But nothing seems right until she realizes she could just go as a witch’s cat. Gorgeous illustrative photos of three-dimensional scenes make this extra intriguing.

One Spooky Night by Kate Stone
Cut-out pages overlaid with vellum tell the story of a little monster walking through the woods. There, he sees Halloween-related sights such as hooting owls, grinning pumpkins, and floating ghosts. The effect of the vellum plus dark and yellow colors creates incredible images.

It’s Raining Bats and Frogs by Rebecca Colby
Oh, dear. It’s raining on the Witch Parade. Delia wants to help so she changes the rain to cats and dogs. But that’s too crazy, so Delia tries again with hats and clogs instead. But the witches fight over the shoes! Next, she tries bats and frogs. Disaster after silly disaster makes basic rain seem fine. After all, a little rain never hurt anyone. Cute and not scary at all.

This Book is Full of Monsters by Guido Van Genechten
Get ready to be immersed in the stinky, loud, interactive world of monster-kind. Each page instructs you to do something to prepare for the next page’s monster — hold your nose, be very quiet, plug your ears. And get ready for the big ending!

Creepy Pair of Underwear! by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown
Jasper’s mom to buy him a pair of big boy underwear. But the underwear is CREEPY and glows in the dark. So Jasper (who isn’t scared at all!) tries and tries to get rid of them. But no matter what he does, the pair of underwear comes right back! Finally, Jasper successfully buries them on a hill. That’s when he realizes he misses his creepy underwear and wants them back. A clever combination of silly and creepy both in this story for all year round.

Grimelda and the Spooktacular Pet Show by Diana Murray, illustrated by Heather Ross
To win the pet show, Grimelda must make her pet spooktacular. Of course first, she must find her spellbook. And, the right pet. But, things go wonky at the pet show and Grimelda turns her cat into an even cuter cat. Whoops. Now what will happen!?

Boo-La-La Witch Spa by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Isabel Roxas
After the big day of Halloween, the tired witches visit the fab-BOO Witch Spa to drink Bat-Whisker Tea and get spooky spa treatments. A darling Halloween picture book that isn’t scary.

Halloween Tricks & Treats & Other Nifty Stuff by Fiona Hammond
Wow– do we love this Halloween book! The author not only has fun Halloween food and craft ideas but great photographs, a poster, stencils, and a page of stickers as well. My 10-year-old has dog-eared the pages she wants to do –um, almost all of them. Here’s our to-do list o’ fun so far:

Creepy Chocolate Spiders

Meringue Bones

Chocolate Tombstone Cakes

Brilliant Broomsticks (paper bags, rope, sticks)

Chocolate Licorice Broomsticks

Pin the Nose on the Jack-O’-Lantern

Spiderweb Pumpkin Soup

Frankenstein Fizz

Haunted Histories by J. H. Everett
Believe it or not, I sat down and read this book straight through, intending to skim it. It was fascinating! It’s more about history than spookiness. I learned more about the Tower of London, tips for attacking a castle, the crazy King Ludwig II of Bavaria, The Bastille, and lots more. I highly recommend this can’t-put-it-down book!

Spooky Coloring Book by Sara Szewczyk
My daughter loves this coloring book because it’s also a story! Follow a witch cat as she sweeps out the ghosts, cares for her greenhouse plants, visits a gryph in the enchanted forest where she collects more plants, concocts a magic potion, and does other daily witchy activities. This is a 96-page book with one coloring page to color on each two-page spread.