Spooktacular Halloween Books

 Charlotte is beyond excited about Halloween this year. It happened about a month ago when we walked into the grocery store and she spotted Halloween decorations. It has been on her mind ever since. She has informed us that she needs to go to the pumpkin patch and exactly what she needs to dress up as on Halloween night. She has even instructed us during pretend play on how to trick-or-treat. Yes, we wear various hats and knock on every single door in our house in hopes of getting a handful of candy. Excited is definitely an understatement. We have been reading a ton of great Spooktacular Halloween books that we wanted to share with everyone.

Wee Witches' Halloween by Jerry Smath:
This is a  story about a group of witches who attend scaring school, learn to fly brooms, screech and upon graduation set out on Halloween night in hopes of scaring everyone. The text rhymes and is simple and cute. I like the fact that it teaches young kids that Halloween should be fun and not scary.

Twelve Haunted Rooms of Halloween by Macky Pamintuan:
You have to add this book to your Halloween roundup. We absolutely loved it. We always enjoy good sing-along, read-aloud books so when I spotted this one, I knew it was going to be a big hit. It's of course sung to the tune The Twelve Days of Christmas, but with a spooky Halloween twist. Follow along as you go from room to room discovering various things. Werewolves howling, zombies dancing, ghost booo-ing and many more. Each page adds the next group to the story so kids have a blast finding each spook. There are also a few hidden objects hidden throughout that they point out at the end for you to go back through and hunt for. Charlotte seriously loved this one and can sing from six on down by herself already!

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson:
We are huge fans of Donalson's The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child . She has such a special gift for smoothly telling a story and including clever rhymes. It immediately draws you in and captures your attention. This is the story of a witch who drops items while flying on her broom and every time she stops to find them, she meets a new friend who wants a ride. She graciously gives a lift to a dog, a frog and a bird who in the end return the favor and help her out of a frightful encounter. I love that this story includes another friendly witch and a lesson on friendship and helping others.

My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck:
This book is the perfect example that not all monsters are scary! It follows a monster mama and her baby as they do things throughout the day. Incredibly cute rhymes and super fun illustrations. This one definitely had Charlotte laughing hysterically every time we read it. She loved the fact that the mama combed cobwebs from the baby's bangs, went swimming in the swamp, gave her baby lizard juice and even gazed at the Milky Way. It's great for Halloween, but can definitely be read all year long.

The Spooky Smells of Halloween by Mary Man-Kong:
My mom gave Charlotte this book last year. It was an immediate hit and she has been reading it everyday for the past few weeks. It's the story of a boy getting ready for a Halloween party and to go trick-or-treating with his friend. The fun thing is every other page includes a scratch and sniff sticker. You get to smell berry punch, candied apples, spooky cookies, bubblegum and even one special surprise at the end that will definitely leave your child giggling. 

   
The Spooky Wheels on the Bus by J. Elisabeth Mills:
Another fantastic sing a-long, read a-loud book set to the tune of Wheels on the Bus. Follow along as the bus stops to pick up hissing cats, wacky witches, silly monsters, singing mummies, and many more fun characters. It's also a counting book that goes up to the number ten! We loved the colorful, playful illustrations as well. Charlotte memorized this one quickly. I found her reading it to herself several times and she even sang it at the top of her lungs all throughout Target the other day.

We're Off to Find the Witch's House by Richard Kreib:
This book follows a group of kids as they head out on Halloween night to go trick-or-treating. Their main goal is to find the witches house, but along the way they run into a vampire, a Frankenstein, and a few more characters. Charlotte likes the suspense as you meet these various characters, but she also likes to answer the repeating question ," We're off to find the witches house. Which house? The witches house". As a mom, I love the descriptive vocabulary that is present through the entire book.  I also like the fact that it is another book that teaches her that Halloween can be spooky, but it's also fun and really just a bunch of people dressed up in costumes.

Little Goblins Ten by Pamela Jane:
If you have been following our other book list reviews, then you will already know that we are big fans of the song Over in the Meadow or any adaptation of it. We have really loved reading/singing this book for the past few weeks!! The author did a great job coming up with some clever rhymes and I love the fact that she included some different Halloween characters. You run into monsters, zombies, goblins, and dragons to name just a few. The fun text combined with the fantastic illustrations (they are truly magical) make for a really great and fun counting book.

10 Trick-or-Treaters by Janet Schulman:
Another Halloween counting book, but what we like about this one is that it counts down from ten which is quite unique. What we really love about this book though, is the crazy, fun illustrations. They are extremely colorful and just plain silly. Charlotte loves pointing out and naming each costume. The text is also a simply rhyme so it's an easy one for kids to memorize and "read" to themselves.

I'm still having a hard time believing that Halloween is just right around the corner. Reading all of these books has definitely helped us build the excitement over the fun holiday.  Do you and your little bookworm have any other favorite Halloween books that we might have overlooked? Please share any other Spooktacular finds so we can add them to our ever expanding to-read list!