Its starting to feel like Halloween around Chicago, so we rounded up the books we love that celebrate Halloween. We included books that both my younger (2.5 year old) and older (6 year old) child enjoy separately, though most of these we all like to read together. Happy (early) Halloween!
Norman Bridwell’s Clifford’s Halloween is a classic. Clifford and Emily Elizabeth remember some of the mishaps of Halloweens of the past and plan their costumes for this Halloween. It’s sweet and cute and funny in the tradition of all Clifford books.
Both of my kids are nuts for all Fancy Nancy books, and we especially love to read Fancy Nancy Halloween or Bust! by Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser at this time of year. Nancy goes to a Halloween party and her costume goes awry at the party. She is devastated (a fancy word for upset) but finds a solution, as she always does, using a bit of creativity and positive attitude.
Linda Williams and Megan Lloyd’s The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything was gifted to us and is really fun to read aloud. The little old lady is out walking and finds a pair of books, a pair of pants, a shirt, and ultimately a pumpkin head who each make their own sound as they follow her down the path. She tells each that she’s not afraid of them, but gets a bit spooked and rushes home. When she gets there she has a great idea for how to use them to her advantage. This is one of the spookier ones that we enjoy, but the end is so un-spooky, and the sounds can be goofy instead of scary, that we all enjoy reading it together.
Curious George: Hooray for Halloween by Margret and H.A. Rey keeps my younger kid squealing with laughter at George’s mishaps. George and the Man with the Yellow Hat go to a Halloween party, and when they arrive, George is offered a costume from some the host has upstairs. George tries on several before deciding. He jumps on the bed to see himself in the mirror, and bumps into a table. The party guests suspect a ghost upstairs, which scares George, so he rushes downstairs but gets tangled in sheet, turning himself into the ghost. Typical of George’s stories, this book is innocently funny.
And Then Comes Halloween by Tom Brenner and illustrated by Holly Meade is my favorite of these favorites. It describes what happens in the days leading to Halloween- the weather, the leaves falling, the decor around town- and then describes the deciding, creating, and wearing of costumes that leads to and includes Halloween night. Readers see a group of kids trick-or-treat and come home, and one sweet kid starts thinking already about their costume for next Halloween. The images in this book are gorgeous and detailed and beautiful. My youngest likes to find the cat on each page, and my older kid likes to predict what the kids will do to prepare for Halloween next.