A few days ago, I asked my Facebook followers to share their favorite Halloween book to read out loud. Their responses are below, along with any comments they had to offer. You can learn more about each book by clicking on the title or the image to go to the Amazon listing.
Picture Books
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
“A new favorite? Creepy Carrots. Perfect for the little ones who say they want ‘a scary story.’ No mention of Halloween but the illustrations are EPIC. :)”
-Angie Oliverson
The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
“Great picture book; can tie in talking about bullies.”
“I love The Hallo-Weiner!! It always makes me think of my old dachshund, Louie. Cute story!”
-Jamie Hoisman
“The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything is one the kids always love!”
-Kim Patton
“I pass out props that go with the story. The kids LOVE it!”
“Boo! by Robert Munsch. I read the story, in all of its descriptive loveliness, without showing the last page. The kids are each given a paper plate and asked to show what they think the little boy’s face will look like. There are several opportunities for predicting and inferring (how the characters feel, etc) and the repetitive pattern is great fun.”
-Sue Scott
“Like Goodnight Moon. My 5-year-old loves it.”-Heather Soucy
“A great lesson for cooperation!!!”
-Betsy Steele
“Wonderful book for the younger set…great repetition and positive message about cooperation.”
-Karen Jamison Wiley
“Love ‘The Withered Corpse’ poem with gooey props… Kids are blindfolded.”
-Amy Kurtz
“The Jerry Seinfeld book for sure! Soo cute!”
“Halloween Surprise is great for younger kids. I would say preschool-1st grade. Really cute pictures and easy for prediction making.”
“His illustrations are great, and the kids love Splat!”
-Ashlee Fetters“Acceptance of differences! Love it.”
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Pssssst! It’s Me…The Bogeyman by Barbara Park
“So cute!”
-Sarah Miller
“Great non-fiction with gorgeous pictures.”
Chapter Books
Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. San Souci
“Cinderella Skeleton – I love all kinds of fractured fairy tales. You can teach lots of different concepts with them.”
“This is one that I love to read to my fourth graders because it’s aimed at their age level. It also features a character parade, which we have at our school each year, and the kids enjoy that part a lot!”
The Haunting of Hillside School by Kristiana Gregory
“The Haunting of Hillside School: great read for kids in 2nd-4th grade… The writing really makes it easy for you to feel like you are right there – and it’s creepy enough, but not totally scary – if that makes sense.”
“My students love these books – Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark – they sit around huddled in the library reading them together.”
“The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. Great to read to 6th graders, it’s usually their first introduction to Poe and keeps them on the edge of their seats.”
Awesome selection of Halloween books! I see a few of my favorites and a few I want to find!
Sally from Elementary Matters
Dan Gutman (My Weird School chapter books)- Miss Patty is Batty. We love it and my second graders LOVE his books!
great list, very helpful. Just a heads up, when you click the link for Creepy Carrots, the Amazon listing for The Widow’s Broom pops up.
Thank you for catching that! We will get it fixed.