Favorite Children’s Books For Halloween

Halloween Favorites

• The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams (1986) is a holiday favorite for children of all ages. This tale of a feisty old lady—complete with colorful and buoyant illustrations—is a not-so-spooky book that is appropriate for bedtime reading.
• The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree, written and illustrated by Stan and Jan Berenstain (1978), is a favorite for small children beginning to read.  This adorable family of bears investigates an enormous old tree and, along the way, discovers what’s real and what only appears scary. With easy-to-read rhymes, this is an ideal read for a young child.

• The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury (1972) is a fantasy novel filled with exploration and discovery. Children out trick-or-treating discover the meaning of Halloween or “Samhain” in this truly unique story. The group of friends come across a magical tree covered in jack-o-lanterns that takes them traveling through time; they explore The Day of the Dead or “Dia de los Muertos” in Mexico, cultural practices of the ancient Egyptians, medieval Paris, Celtic druids, etc. With exceptionally eerie cover illustrations by Joseph Mugnaini, this story is nothing short of a Bradbury classic! It was actually made into a television movie in 1993 (for which Bradbury collaborated and won an Emmy award).
• The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin by Margaret Wise Brown (2003) is about a little orange pumpkin in a patch who wishes to become a frightening jack-o-lantern.

• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is a classic 1820 novella with Ichabod Crane and the headless horseman as the protagonists. This gothic New England tale is so beloved that the town of Sleepy Hollow in upstate New York has become a favorite of tourists, especially at Halloween.
• Goosebumps by R.L. Stine is a series of books (with over 200 titles) that are favorites for children and young adult readers alike. With stories about haunted masks, mummies, creepy carnivals, beastly babysitters, and evil genies (to name a few), there’s something to pique all interests. Whether children are reading on their own, being read to, or reading aloud to each other, these fun, spooky stories are a great way to get your kids interested in reading and one-of-a-kind storytelling.

• Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories (1983) is a collection chosen by Dahl himself. Comprised of fourteen ghost stories, Dahl stated that he chose this assortment because “Spookiness is, after all, the real purpose of the ghost story.”  The selection includes writings by Edith Wharton and Rosemary Timperley.

For more information on thought provoking children’s literature, consult Full Cycle Publications