Ten Fun Halloween Books for Young Kids

Thrill your little ghosts and goblins with these fun and not-so-spooky Halloween books for young kids!

Reading fun books to your kids or grandchildren is a great way to help them develop a love of books and reading as they get older. And reading seasonal books, like these Halloween books, is a great way to celebrate the different holidays and celebrations throughout the year.

The 10 books on this page are excellent representatives of the many great Halloween books that are available for young children from preschool through early grade school (roughly ages 4 - 8). Some are silly, some are a little spooky and creepy, to give young kids just a taste of the shivers, and some are just plain fun to read and to look at. Many of these books have rhythmic and repetitive text that makes it easy for kids to memorize the book over time.

All of these books get great reviews from parents, grandparents, and teachers who read these fun Halloween books to young children. None of the books are too scary -- they're just right for most young kids for good Halloween reading fun.

So have your "little monsters" snuggle up to you as you read them these great Halloween story books!

Eve Bunting is one of the best authors of kids’ books, and Jan Brett one of the best illustrators.

This enjoyable book chronicles the passing by of witches, ghosts, mummies, goblins, and other “scary” Halloween creatures, as told by the brave narrator in this Halloween story poem. The narrator doesn’t know that these creepy creatures are just kids out Trick-or-Treating in their costumes. And the readers of the story don’t know at first that the narrator is a mother cat with her kittens, watching the parade of weird, exciting creatures go by.

Little kids may end up memorizing the fun rhymes of this spooky (but not too scary) book about momma cat and her kittens watching Halloween creatures passing by.

This was one of my boys' favorite Halloween books, given to them by their grandmother. They'd ask to have it read to them over and over, even after Halloween was long past.

The little old lady in this story isn't afraid of anything, and proves it when a few usually inanimate clothing objects, such as shoes, shirts, pants, and gloves start following her while she's out on a walk. She repeats to each, "Get out of my way! I'm not afraid of you!". But when a large pumpkin head starts following her, she decides she should walk very quickly back home. Not that she's afraid....but just because it seems like the right thing to do.

All of these objects that followed her don't know what to do anymore, since they can't scare her, so she makes a scarecrow out of them to scare the birds out of her garden (the birds aren't nearly as brave as the little old lady!).

The witch and her cat in this story need help after a strong wind comes up and blows some of the witch's belongings off of her broomstick. Other animals help her to retrieve her lost items, in exchange for a ride on her broom. This fun story with simple repetitive rhymes is reminiscent of other stories with the theme, "There's always room for one more". But is there really room here? All of the helpful animals on the broom work to save the witch from being eaten by a red dragon!

Here's a fun variation of Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas story rhyme. But in The Night Before Halloween, spooky goblins, ghouls, ghost and other monsters get their house ready for all the children trick-or-treaters who will be coming to their door on Halloween.

Author Natasha Wing has also written other similar types of children's books (The Night Before Easter, The Night Before Valentine's Day, The Night Before Thanksgiving, among others).

Here's a not-quite-scary but pleasantly spirited book about a green-faced witch with a pickle-shaped nose who wants to make a Halloween pumpkin pie. She has the pumpkin for it, a beautiful gigantic pumpkin that she grew from a seed. Problem is, she can't get the pumpkin off of the vine. What's a witch do do? She gets advice from a variety of spooky creatures (who also want to share in the pie), but none can get the pumpkin off of the vine. Along comes a little bat with a good idea.

This story is rhythmic and repetitive - fun to read and fun to listen to.

This delightful little story book talks about friendship and the problems that any friendship, however strong, can bring. Cat, Squirrel, and Duck live and work together, each with their own specific duties. They each play different musical instruments, and they each have their own special jobs for creating a delicious pumpkin soup. But one day, Duck wants to change jobs when they make pumpkin soup. They all start fighting about this, and Duck waddles off in anger, disappearing for a good part of the day. Squirrel and Cat are very worried and look all over to find him, but without success, until the end of the book. Young kids may be able to come up with instances in their lives when they've fought with friends and then made up again.

Not necessarily a Halloween book, but goes well with pumpkin themes for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

What a silly concept -- a skeleton with the hiccups! There's no way a skeleton can be scary with a stubborn case of the hiccups. And he certainly can't do what he wants to do with the hiccups. He can't polish his bones, rake leaves, play baseball with his friend Ghost, or carve a pumpkin. All that hiccuping creates big problems, such as his jaw flying off while brushing his teeth. So Ghost tries to help Skeleton with typical hiccup cures. But drinking water upside down really doesn't work (the water streams out his eye sockets). Holding his breath and eating sugar doesn't work either. Then Ghost remembers that scaring someone can get rid of the hiccups. So, he gives Skeleton a mirror....

Young kids love this cute book!

Baby Mummy is like other little kids who just want to stay up a little later before going to bed. He begs Mama Mummy for one last game of "Hide and Shriek", and then rushes off to hide in the graveyard. Baby Mummy meets some scary creatures (but not too scary for your young kids!), such as Dracula and a skeleton, and other Halloween-type creatures as he wanders around the graveyard, waiting for Mama Mummy to come looking for him. He's not scared of any of these creatures, but IS scared later by an unexpected creature.

Fun rhythmic text will keep your little ones interested in Baby Mummy's adventure.

If your young kids love the classic bedtime book Goodnight Moon, and also love some slightly scary Halloween themes, they'll enjoy this delightfully silly parody, Goodnight Goon.

The illustrations and the cadence for the text are similar to the original book by Margaret Wise Brown, but the young bunny in striped pajamas is replaced by a young monster in striped pajamas. The book ends on a quiet peaceful note, just as in the original.

Your kids will have fun comparing this slightly spooky book with the original.

Berenstain Bears books have been great favorites in our family, including this Halloween themed "Trick or Treat" book.

Brother and Sister Bear go out trick-or-treating, first with the intention of avoiding scary old Miz McGrizz and her spooky-looking house, because they think she's a witch. But they get caught up with some other rabble-rouser young bears who are set on playing tricks on the old woman. Brother and Sister Bear get caught, and invited in to Miz McGrizz's house for candied apples, and learn that she's really a nice old lady bear.

You may find some great kids Halloween books on eBay too, including some old favorite vintage children's Halloween books.