We are about to enter the beginning of the holiday season, a time where children act like it’s a full moon and the barometer is dropping on a daily basis. This time of year can be crazy! I understand all too well the struggle of keeping students’ attention during this time.
Today I thought it would be fun to share my top picks for Halloween books for kids that can help teach important lessons and keep students learning during this time of the year.
Note: Most of these are Amazon Affiliate links, which means I get a few pennies if you purchase. Please don’t feel pressure to use my links, but thank you if you do.
Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler is a darling book about a skeleton who keeps falling apart and needs help from his friends. I think this book is great for retelling, connections, and character education.
Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins is a book about a perfect little pumpkin who wants to be chosen as someone’s jack o lantern but no one wants a pumpkin without a stem. This book is great for noting how the character changes, connections, and character education.
Scarecrow by Beth Ferry is a fabulous new book I recently stumbled upon. It’s about a scarecrow who rescues a baby crow. I just love this heartwarming book. This book lends itself to lessons on predictions, making connections, inferring, and friendship.
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda D. Williams is one of my all-time fall favorites. This repetitive book that tells a tale of a brave old lady who is being followed by scary things and then helps them feel useful by the end of the book. I use this book for making predictions, connections, and retelling.
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson is another fabulous fall book. It’s a tale about a witch and her cat on a broom ad the troubles they face. The students always love the ending. I use this text to teach retelling, inferring, and problem-solving.
The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey is a precious story about a dog who is always teased about the way he looks. To make matters worse, his mother dresses him up like a hot dog for Halloween. His friends continue to tease him until he saves the day. You can use this text to teach about characters, loyalty, and friendship.
How to Catch a Monster by Adam Wallace is about boy ninja who decides to head on a mission to confront a monster who ultimately becomes his friend. I use this book to teach predictions, connections, and retelling as well as how-to writing. Students love to write a similar book about how to catch another Halloween creature.
Where’s My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi about a baby mummy and his mommy mummy playing hide and seek. The baby isn’t frightened when it encounters scary things but then gets scared of something small. Students love this book! I use this text to teach connections, predictions and summarizing.
Just say the word, “underwear” and you have the attention of all of your first graders! Creepy Pair of Underwear by Aaron Reynolds is a story about Jasper who is a big boy and not afraid of the dark anymore. Then, he makes a big discovery about his underwear when the lights go out that will have kids laughing from the start to finish. This book is great for teaching how the character changes and character traits.
I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll is a fun book about a boy named Ethan whose monster is on vacation and he’s looking for one that can take its place. Imagine wanting a monster under your bed? Ethan does and only the perfect monster will do! This book is great for teaching details, inference, and retelling.
I just love picture books and have a lot of favorites for Fall. You can check out my complete list here.
