Because it is October 1 and we have already read every Halloween book in the house twelve times. (Updated Sept. 17, 2019, books getting demanded already.)
Halloween is a very strange festival for those of us around young kids. It’s a mixture of irresistible (costumes, candy, change of seasons, decorations) and inexplicable (What are we celebrating, exactly? What’s a ghost? And my favorite guessing game, “Who will this terrify?”).
But I really really like Halloween all the same, and my kids are SO EXCITED. So here are a few of the books I’ve been looking at as I work on my cackle.
Remember, your local library will have a really great display up… and that’s a great place to check out these titles, too!
If you only want one: *Boo! (Amazon | Indiebound) This is one of what I think of as Leslie Patricelli’s self-help books for kids: they introduce everything a toddler needs to know about the topic, with a wonderful sense of humor. (Tomie de Paola has some introductory books for holidays too, but I like Patricelli better.) In Boo!, her main character, a small, nongendered white toddler, introduces pumpkin carving, costumes, and trick-or-treating (including candy). Mom, Dad, Kitty, and Doggy are recurring characters. It also comes in Spanish.
You might also want to consider howling your heart out with our favorite nighttime frolickers.
If you like them a little spooky:
*It’s Haunted! (Amazon | Indiebound) is a lift-the-flap tour of a creepy old mansion, with ghoulies behind every door
10 Trick-or-Treaters (Amazon | Indiebound) follows a band of kids from their apartment around a series of Halloween activities—but for each page someone gets spooked and runs away, until the last little one goes to sleep.
Goodnight Goon (Amazon | Indiebound) If you have ever gone through a Goodnight Moon phase, you will probably laugh. A lot. But it is creepy in the cold grey tomb!
General Halloween fun
Little Witch’s Zoomin’ Broom (Amazon | Indiebound) is cute; it follows an “itty bitty” white witch with pink hair at an ethnically diverse all-girls witch school.
What’s in the Box? (Amazon | Indiebound) looks to be a Halloween-flavored ripoff of Where’s Spot, but I find a lot to like in the looking-for-little plotline.
Little Boo (Amazon | Indiebound) is a cute-as-a-button baby pumpkinseed that wants to get big and scary.
There’s a Monster inside Your Book (Amazon | Indiebound) Tickle, shake, and try to dump out the winning lil’ monster infesting your book.
Make and Play: Halloween (Amazon) Punch-out figures and activities to occupy little hands.
Reliable standards:
*Room on the Broom (Amazon | Indiebound) The funny verse and inclusive message are very enjoyable if you like EPIC LONG RHYMING POEMS. If you are very tired at bedtime I suggest you hide it. Probably way too long for anyone under two, your baby may vary.
*Little Blue Truck’s Halloween (Amazon | Indiebound) I don’t usually go in much for series board books, but I think the Little Blue Truck franchise is handled well—the rhythms are right, the rhymes are natural, the gender politics are not appalling, and the illustrations are funny and expressive. Seeing animals in costume is amusing. I do wish to lodge a complaint. In Little Blue Truck: animals don’t talk, they don’t wear clothes, their most human trait is selective hearing. In Little Blue Truck’s Halloween: animals throw costumed Halloween parties, dance on their hind legs, and play instruments. It’s like no one is even worried about suspension of disbelief.
Sandra Boynton’s EEK! Halloween (Amazon | Indiebound) about the chickens’ fears and Spooky Pookie (Amazon | Indiebound) about the eternal costume dilemma are Boynton, which means they are awesome. Also, important note, But Not the Armadillo is out to answer the age-old question from But Not the Hippopotamus.
If you need something extra gentle:
*Where Is Baby’s Pumpkin? (Amazon | Indiebound) is a gentle hide-and-seek game starring a white baby featuring non-scary versions of all the Halloween regulars (black cat, ghost, bats, etc.) and a lift-the-flap, great for kids not quite old enough to get what’s going on but who see all the imagery anyway.
You Are My Pumpkin (Amazon | Indiebound) Sweeter than candy corn and half as threatening. Not terribly nutritious, either, but imbued with adult energy can be a fun read.
Happy haunting, my pretties!