The Halloween season is such a fun time of year for children and adults alike with visiting pumpkin patches, picking out costumes, and putting up decorations to celebrate the holiday. In our neighborhood, multiple neighbors have decorated their homes with great effort including spooky sound effects, spider webs, ghosts, graveyards, and more.
One of our favorite family traditions is reading seasonal books to go along with the holiday. Reading and being read to is so important for children and their language development, social development, vocabulary, and more. We try to read at least two books a day before bed at the minimum.
Here is a list of our favorite books for Halloween. The best part is that the majority of these books are available on Amazon for less than $5 each (which is great for any mom not only financially but also so you don’t have to leave the house for yet another errand with your children in tow) or you can always check your local library to get them for free!
- The Spooky Wheels on the Bus– by J. Elizabeth Mills & Ben Mantle – $3.99 Paperback/$1.99 Kindle
Why we love this book – We love to dance and sing at our house and the best part about this book is we can sing the entire thing! If you know the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus” then you can sing along to this fun seasonal book, too! And each page’s song lyrics highlights a different number from 1-10 (a fun learning tool to practice counting).
- Halloween ABC (Little Golden Book)– by Sarah Albee – $4.99 Hardcover and Kindle. It is also available in a board book for the itty bitty and is $7.99 on Amazon.
Why we love this book – As much as we love to dance and sing, we also love to learn. This book is a great learning tool to practice the alphabet in a fun way. Each letter represents a different character wearing a different Halloween costume. I typically will point to the letter that’s on the page as well as the costume and ask my toddler what the child is wearing. It’s great to not only learn ABC’s but also about different costumes that she might see when she is trick-or-treating on Halloween night!
- Corduroy’s Best Halloween Ever!– by Don Freeman – $2.60 Paperback
Why we love this book –Since I was a little girl, I have always loved the Corduroy books. The little bear is such an endearing character. This book is about Halloween but more importantly it’s about friendship. It teaches a great lesson on sharing, selflessness, and giving to others. It also inspires creativity and DIY when it comes to picking and making your own Halloween costumes!
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown– by Charles M. Schulz – $4.18 Paperback. It is also available in a board book for the itty bitty and is $7.95 on Amazon.
Why we love this book – I grew up watching the Charlie Brown holiday movies and now we can read the same story in a book, which for us is better than screen time! Plus, there is an entire page of stickers at the back of the book, which is perfect for babies, toddlers, and small children!
- The Spooky Smells of Halloween– by Mary-Kon – $7.19 Hardcover
Why we love this book – It’s a scratch and sniff book, what more do you need? Children can interactively play with this book as much as they can learn from it. As a mom and play therapist, using senses of smell and touch are extremely beneficial for learning with children. Plus it makes it that much more fun! Every other page of this book has a scratch and sniff sticker that go along with seasonal smells children can recognize. It’s a short and colorful book that is also a fun read. This book is best suited for toddlers and small children but babies would enjoy it, too!
- The Cheerios Halloween Play Book– by Lee Wade – $4.68 Board Book
Why we love this book – As a play therapist, finding ways to practice motor skills and also being able to use play and tactile stimulation are very important for children. With this book, they get to use of these skills while also learning and reading! This book is a win-win for parents, babies, toddlers, and small children alike. This is also a great book to give a child as a distraction while you are making dinner or cleaning the kitchen. Even if they can’t read the words yet, they can see the holes in the book where the Cheerios need to go and play without making a mess with or without you. Each page is filled with places for children to place their Cheerios into the designated slots to use over and over. All you need is some circle shaped cereal to get the full effect (even though we have read it many time without any food). We have used gluten free Cheerios and even other brands that look similar. They also like being able to eat the cereal at the end as a special treat, too!
- Peppa’s Halloween Party– by Eone – $3.52 Paperback/ $2.99 Kindle
Why we love this book – As much as I try to limit screen time in our home, we are all big fans of the sweet television series Peppa Pig. This book embodies the spirit of the season with its colorful depiction of Halloween through a child’s eye. Nick Jr. even made a new television special called “Peppa Pig’s Pumpkin Party” that airs on October 23rd that mimics the book and makes the story come to life! And, it comes with an entire page of stickers at the back of the book!!
- Happy Halloween, Daniel Tiger: A Lift-the-Flap Book– by Angela C. Santomero – $6.00 Board Book
Why we love this book – What child doesn’t love a lift the flap book? Our whole family loves Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (based on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood) and this book brings the characters closer to home. It’s all about exploring your imagination and using creativity in finding the perfect costume. Children love to pretend and play dress up and that is what this book is all about. And the lift the flap parts of the book brings it more to life and makes it that much more fun to read!
- Room on the Broom– by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler – $5.09 Paperback and Board Book
Why we love this book – This is a fun book more for toddlers and children (the recommended ages on the book are 4-8 but my 3 year old loves and understands the content and illustrations). It is a little longer of a read than the other books on this list but it is filled with a poem like structure and the main character is a good and friendly witch, not a mean and scary one. The DVD version of this book was nominated for an Academy Award and these authors are also the creators of The Gruffalo.
- Llama Llama Trick or Treat –by Anna Dewdney – $5.00 Board Book or $5.99 Kindle
Why we love this book – We own and love all of the Llama Llama series and this book is no exception. It is short, sweet, and perfect for babies and toddlers, plus it is a board book, which helps keep the book in one piece! It encompasses the spirit of the season and is colorful, fun, and not scary for little ones. The author passed away only a month ago at the age of 50 of brain cancer and her legacy lives on through her books and the popular characters she created.
>> This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, we might receive compensation if you choose to purchase the item. <<
