Picture Books for Halloween
Spooky and funny stories for little ones (and maybe adults too!)
Apples and pumpkins
Rockwell, Anne F.
1994
It is Fall! And for one little girl, that means the special joys of visiting the Comstock Farm: choosing the reddest apples from the trees and finding the best pumpkin in the patch.Back home, she helps her mother carve a funny jack-o'-lantern face and puts a glowing candle inside her prize new pumpkin...just in time for Halloween and an evening of lots of "trick or treats"!
Bear feels scared
Wilson, Karma, author
2008
Bad weather frightens Bear, but his woodland friends are there to help him in this sweet, reassuring Bear story from bestselling duo Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman!
In the deep, dark woods
by the Strawberry Vale,
a big bear lumbers
down a small, crooked trail...
The sun is setting and it's getting chilly. When Bear's friends discover that he is not at home in his lair, they march out into the cold to find their pal. Friends don't let friends stay lost! Wren, Owl, and Raven take to the skies while Badger, Mole, and Mouse search on the ground. Pretty soon Bear is found, and once he's back in his cave, he feels quite safe with his friends all around.
The Berenstain Bears happy Halloween!
Berenstain, Stan, 1923-2005
2015
It's the best Halloween treat ever--a collection of three Berenstain Bears Halloween books in one! Included are The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest, and The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin, sweet and spooky tales that are the perfect ingredients for a whole lot of Halloween reading fun!
Big pumpkin
Silverman, Erica.
1992
The witch has grown the biggest pumpkin ever, and now she wants to make herself a pumpkin pie for Halloween. But the pumpkin is so big she can't get it off the vine.
It's so big the ghost can't move it, either. Neither can the vampire, nor the mummy. It looks as if there'll be no pumpkin pie for Halloween, until along comes the bat with an idea to save the day.
How can the tiny bat succeed where bigger and strong spooky creatures have failed? You'll be surprised!
Boo, bunny!
Galbraith, Kathryn Osebold.
2008
Eeek!
Squeak! Halloween can be especially spooky for a shy bunny. But when that shy bunny bumps into another shy bunny, friendship scares away fear. Once they join forces, not even the darkest night can stop them two brave bunnies from having the best Halloween ever. Full of sounds, spookiness, and sweetness, this dynamic picture book celebrates the best part of Halloween: friends!
Creepy carrots!
Reynolds, Aaron, 1970- author
2012
In this Caldecott Honor-winning picture book, The Twilight Zone comes to the carrot patch as a rabbit fears his favorite treats are out to get him.
Jasper Rabbit loves carrots--especially Crackenhopper Field carrots.
He eats them on the way to school.
He eats them going to Little League.
He eats them walking home.
Until the day the carrots start following him...or are they?
Celebrated artist Peter Brown's stylish illustrations pair perfectly with Aaron Reynold's text in this hilarious picture book that shows it's all fun and games...until you get too greedy.
Five little pumpkins
Dean, James, 1957- author, illustrator
2015
New York Times Bestseller!
Bestselling author and artist James Dean brings us a groovy rendition of the classic favorite children's song "Five Little Pumpkins," sung by cool cat Pete and perfect for Halloween.
Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins is in a sturdy paper-over-board format and filled with vibrant, engaging illustrations for even the youngest of Pete fans.
Young Halloween fans will enjoy chanting along with Pete:
Five little pumpkins
Sitting on a gate. The first one said,
"Oh my, it's getting late."
A Halloween mask for Monster
Mueller, Virginia.
1986
Monster tries on girl, boy, cat, and dog masks at Halloween but since they are all too scary he decides to go as himself.
How to catch a monster
Wallace, Adam, author
2017
A USA TodayBestseller!
From the creators of the New York Times bestselling How to Catch a Leprechaun and How to Catch an Elf!
There's a monster in my closet,
with claws, and teeth, and hair,
and tonight, I'm going to scare him!
He lives just right through there...
Get ready to laugh as a young ninja heads into the closet to meet the monster that's been so scary night after night! But what if things aren't what they seem and our monster isn't scary at all? What if our ninja hero is about to make a friend of strangest sort?
If you dare to travel beyond the closet door and into the land of the monsters... you might just find the very best reward of all. But with robots, lava pie, and a smattering of traps--catching monsters is no easy business!
Is there a monster living in your closet? Are you brave enough to catch him? Parents and children will love sharing this fun and inventive picture book, which reminds us that things aren't always as scary as they seem.
It's raining bats and frogs
Colby, Rebecca, 1968-, author
2015
A little witch named Delia has been looking forward all year to flying in the annual Witch Parade. When the rumors of rain come true and the other witches start complaining, Delia takes action. Using her best magic, Delia changes the rain to cats and dogs. At first this goes over quite well, but she quickly realizes the animals cause a few issues. She must change the rain again! This time to hats and clogs. And finally, she tries bats and frogs. But each new type of rain brings its ownset of problems. How will Delia save the day?
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
2011
Come along with Charlie Brown, Linus, Sally, and friends for trick-or-treating fun! Search for hidden objects in 8 Halloween scenes, from the pumpkin patch to Violet's party. When you're finished, turn to the back of the book for even more Look and Find challenges!
The monster who lost his mean
Haber, Tiffany Strelitz
2012
Everyone knows that the M in "monster" stands for MEAN. But what happens when a monster can't be mean any more? Is he still a monster at all?
One young monster's attempts to live up to his name go hilariously awry as he discovers--with a little help from new friends--that it's not what you're called but who you are that counts.
Mouse's first Halloween
Thompson, Lauren, 1962- author
2000
One spooky night in the fall, Mouse creeps out and hears bats flying
Flit! Flit! Flit!
and apples dropping
Plop! Plop! Plop!
and children singing
"TRICK OR TREAT!"
What could it be?
One Halloween night
Teague, Mark
1999
Wendell, Floyd, and Mona can't seem to avoid trouble, particularly on Halloween! It all starts when a black cat crosses their path while they're walking home from school, which seems to cause all their costumes to go awry. Then, while trick-or-treating, some of their neighbors surprise them with tricks instead of treats. As if that weren't bad enough, a pack of nasty witches is chasing them through the neighborhood, making fun of their costumes! Will the kids be able to save their Halloween from disaster?
Queen of Halloween
Engelbreit, Mary
2008
Wearing the perfect fairy queen costume, with her friend Michael by her side, Ann Estelle is ready for a Halloween night on the town. And what a night it is--full of ghosts and mummies and witches and wizards, and lots of candy, of course.
But Halloween can also be a little bit scary, as Ann Estelle discovers when she tries trick-or-treating at the spookiest house in town. It's awfully dark up there . . . and the pathway is awfully long. Will Ann Estelle be brave enough to ring the bell?
Little trick-or-treaters will enjoy this Halloween outing that sparkles with Mary Engelbreit's signature wit and charm.
Scaredy-cat, Splat!
Scotton, Rob, author, illustrator
2010
The fun of Splat the Cat continues in New York Times bestselling author-artist Rob Scotton's paper-over-board edition of Scaredy-Cat, Splat!
It's Halloween, and Splat is determined to be the scariest cat in the class. Unfortunately, he's just too much of a scaredy-cat. He's afraid of a little spider, and everyone says his costume looks more silly than scary. And when Mrs. Wimpydimple tells a ghost story in the dark, Splat gets so frightened that he tips over his jack-o'-lantern. But when the lights go back on, the entire class is scared silly by a small, black, furry creature with a big pumpkin head. Whooooo can it be?
Shake dem Halloween bones
Nikola-Lisa, W.
1997
It's Halloween night.The city is quiet.The city is still.But as the lights go down, the music comes up - and the guests start to arrive at the hip-hop Halloween ball! And oh, what a party it is.Told in hip-hop rhyming text, L'il Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, Tom Thumb, and all of their fairy-tale friends come together for a rapping, stomping, shaking Halloween romp.Scoo-bee-doo-bee-doo-wah.Yeah!
Sheep trick or treat
Shaw, Nancy.
1997
What will happen when the sheep go trick-or-treating? Could there be wolves lurking in the woods, hoping to waylay them as they return home with their bags full of goodies? In crisp verse and whimsically eerie pictures, Nancy Shaw and Margot Apple tell the lively story of a remarkable Halloween adventure. Simple sentences, rhyming text, and a humorous tone make this the perfect treat for beginning readers. Fans of this adventuresome flock of sheep will not want to miss this Halloween treat.
Tacky and the haunted igloo
Lester, Helen, author
2015
It's Halloween, and Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Neatly, and Perfect are planning the spookiest haunted igloo ever! They've decorated with spoohooky cobwebs, they've baked some awful waffle treats, and the only thing left to do is dress up as something scary to haunt the igloo. Everything is going spooktacularly . . . until ghostly hunters show up! They want all the penguins' snacks, but their trick-or-treaters (and, of course, snacky Tacky) have eaten them all. How will thepenguins get out of this mess? Tacky will teach these trick-or-treating hunters that, if they can't get treats, they're surely going to get tricked.
Trick or treat?
Martin, Bill, 1916-2004.
2002
A child has a wonderful time collecting treats from the wacky neighbors until Magic Merlin decides that a trick would be more fun.
What was I scared of? : a glow-in-the-dark encounter
Seuss, Dr.
1997
What's a pair of empty green trousers doing standing by itself in the woods?
Or riding a bike in Grin-itch? Or fishing on Roover River? The narrator
certainly doesn't want to find out but wherever he goes, he's haunted by the
spooky empty pants. Finally, when the two find themselves hiding from each
other in a Snide bush the terrified narrator realizes, I was just as strange
to him as he was strange to me. This little Seussian gem, plucked from the
back of The Sneetches and Other Stories shines on it own as it delivers
a timeless message about fear and tolerance.