The best Halloween books for children - Nosy Crow Skip to content
Posted by Tom, October 28, 2016

The best Halloween books for children

Halloween is nearly here, and we have lots of GREAT books that will get you in the mood – here are some wonderfully spooky halloween books for children of all ages…

Halloween books for babies and toddlers

Bizzy Bear: Spooky House, the newest addition to the brilliant Bizzy Bear board book series illustrated by Benji Davies, is fantastic halloween fun, and absolutely PERFECT for toddlers: Benji’s illustrations are bright, colourful and friendly, there’s lots of visual humour, a very gentle rhyme, and plenty for toddlers to get involved with – and the sturdy mechanisms and chunky sliders will withstand the roughest treatment!

In Spooky House, the ever-intrepid Bizzy Bear has come for a visit to a super-spooky Halloween house. As he climbs the rickety stairs and walks the cobwebby corridors, all sorts of creepy characters appear from doors and hidey holes. But where could he be going and what will he find there?

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Jannie Ho’s Halloween ABC is perfect for read-aloud spooky fun: with smiling faces, bold shapes and bright contrasting colours to engage and hold the attention of inquisitive older babies and toddlers, this sturdy little board book is an excellent, gentle introduction to letter sounds and the alphabet sequence.

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And Jannie’s Wickle Woo has a Halloween Party, from the brilliant Tiny Tabs series, is another guaranteed winner this halloween. With simple stories, repeated refrains and a host of faces to spot and name, these are the perfect books to engage and entertain the very young. Wickle Woo has planned the perfect party – but when will his guests arrive? Little readers will love pulling the tabs to find out who is coming to the party, and what their costumes are!

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Halloween picture books

Pip and Posy: The Scary Monster, by Axel Scheffler, is the perfect halloween picture book for toddlers and the very young – a wonderfully autumnal story in the Pip and Posy series. When Pip comes to Posy’s house wearing a scary monster mask, he gives Posy a bit of a fright! Oh, dear! But when she works out it’s only Pip, she feels much better, and they share the biscuits she’s made. Hooray! Here’s a look inside the book – now out in a wonderful new board book edition, too:

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Nothing Can Frighten a Bear, written by Elizabeth Dale and illustrated by Paula Metcalf, is is an absolutely FANTASTIC picture book: beautifully illustrated, with an incredible rhyming text, and a gentle, reassuring message that’s perfect for young children.

Snuggled up in bed one moonlight night, Baby Bear is sure he hears a monster outside. Daddy Bear insists there’s nothing scary in the forest and, anyway, nothing can frighten a bear. But as the family of bears set out to make sure, and all vanish one by one, it looks like Daddy Bear might not be as brave as he seems… This bedtime story is full of comic surprises and gentle reassurance. After all, the things that go bump in the night are never as scary as you might think! Here’s a look inside the book:

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The Mystery of the Haunted Farm by Elys Dolan is a brilliantly clever, hilariously funny picture book that’s GREAT for Halloween. Down on the farm, something isn’t quite right, so Farmer Greg takes refuge in a hotel and calls out the Ghost Hunters to investigate. After encountering the likes of Donkula and Frankenhorse, the Hunters declare this to be one of the most interesting cases of their career. Meanwhile, after experiencing the worst shower ever at Bates Motel, Farmer Greg returns to his farm and discovers that the monstrous creatures were, in fact, his animals, who’d dressed up to scare off a beast. But CREEPERS! What’s THAT? The beast’s true identity is revealed when the moon rises and a certain farmer sprouts a tail and great, BIG teeth… Featuring incredibly illustrative detail and Elys’ trademark wit, this is a smart, spooky treat from a major picture book talent. Here’s a look inside the book:

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The Hubble Bubble picture book series, written by Tracey Corderoy and illustrated by Joe Berger, makes for excellent Halloween reading – the charming combination of a witchy granny, rhyming texts and stylish illustrations makes these books a bewitching brew for all children who like a sprinkling of magic on their stories. Here’s a look inside the first Hubble Bubble picture book, Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble:

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Halloween young fiction

And for newly independent readers with a thirst for magic and mayhem, Hubble Bubble: The Super-Spooky Fright Night – the third young fiction title from Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger– will also go down a treat. In this collection of three illustrated stories, Granny’s halloween party goes off with a bang, a birthday trip to a build-a-teddy factory careers out of control, and well, you can probably guess who magics up penguins at the local swimming pool! Here’s a look inside the book:

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Last month we launched a brand new two-colour illustrated fiction series starring everyone’s favourite canine duo, Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam, written by Tracey Corderoy and illustrated by Steven Lenton – and the first book in the new young fiction series, Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Spooky School, is just right for Halloween.

Shifty and Sam don’t just make amazing cakes – these two brave bakers solve wacky mysteries too! Halloween at St Spectre’s school brings out the cheekiest of ghosts! And who is to blame when the weather goes CRAZY? A power-grabbing red panda maybe? Certainly not the racoon gang fixing the museum’s toilets – they’ve got dastardly plans of their OWN! With three hilarious read-aloud stories, and beautiful two-colour illustrations, this is a fantastic book for 6+ year olds – it’s perfect for young children ready for the next milestone after picture books, and great for both independent reading and sharing. Here’s a look inside the book:

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Halloween older fiction

And for older children, the Witchworld books, written by Emma Fischel (and with STUNNING covers illustrated by Chris Riddell) will keep 9+ readers who like imaginatively-written fantasy very happy this Halloween. This bewitching series delivers an ingenious twist on witch fiction: the witches of Watchword have no need for old-fashioned wands or broomsticks, not when they have shiny Spellsticks, super-whizzy Skywriters and a cupboard full of Potions2Go! Here’s a look inside the first book in the series, Witchworld:

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