When my kids were small I spent a fair amount of money on books, many of them bought either through Scholastic orders or at thrift stores. I especially liked to get books with a holiday theme that could be put away until the next year and feel like a brand new read when brought out. I maintain a small collection of Halloween books and a large collection of Christmas picture books.
These are some of my favourites for Halloween.
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson; illustrated by Axel Scheffler
This is a cute story about a witch losing her hat, her bow and then her wand. As she searches for her items different animals find them and then climb aboard her broomstick.
I printed out some characters, laminated them and glued them each onto a clothes pin. Then I made a broom out of a dowel and yellow paper. As they appear in the story they get clipped onto the broomstick.
On Halloween Night by Harriet Ziefort; illustrated by Renee Adriani
In this book a girl is collecting items to create a costume. I printed out a girl and then items to match the costume items in the story. I attached sticky magnetic strips to the back of everything so it could be used on a magnet board while reading the story.
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams; illustrator Megan Lloyd
This book brings back memories of my time volunteering at the Military Family Resource Center in Trenton. They had drop in respite care and I went to help out. The lady running the show loved this book and would read it over and over throughout the month of October.
A lady is out for a walk in the woods and clothing pieces begin to follow her, each making a different noise. All the sounds get repeated as things are added.
I cut out some clothing shapes using construction paper, laminated them and added magnetic strips to the back.
Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman; illustrated by S.D. Schindler
This was a favourite of my kids and one of my favourites to read. They would insist that I read it over and over again. I also HAD to do the voices.
A witch has difficulty picking a pumpkin off the vine. Different Halloween friends come along and each one tries with no success until the bat has a great idea.
Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino
There a number of different books out there for this poem with a variety of different illustrations.
Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one says, “oh my it’s getting late.”
The second one says, “There’s witches in the air.”
The third ones says, “We don’t care.”
The fourth one says, “Let’s run and run and run.”
The fifth one says, “It’s Halloween fun!”
Then Oooo went the wind and OUT went the lights
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Dollar store plastic pumpkins sitting on orange juice lids
Each of my kids had to memorize this at some point in elementary school. It is good for Kindergarten or Grade one for early poem memorization, rhyming and counting to five.
There are lots of books for Halloween that you can create props for and add more engagement for not only children but also for the adult reading them.
Awesome! 🎃