It’s never too early to get into the Halloween spirit! Young readers can prepare for tricks and treats with books including a picture book featuring an innovative witch, a tale of friendship between a ghost and a human, a middle grade story following a tween’s rise to spooky royalty, and more.
Picture Books
5 More Sleeps ’Til Halloween
Jimmy Fallon, illus. by Rich Deas. Feiwel and Friends, $19.99 ISBN 978-1-250-85779-8. Ages 3–6. This picture book from the Tonight Show host anticipates the few days left before a spooky celebration.
Becky Paige. Silver Dolphin, $10.99 ISBN 978-1-66720-688-2. Ages 3–5. Spectral protagonist Boo enjoys nothing more than terrorizing patrons of the library and befriends a girl he cannot scare.
Jennifer Maruno, illus. by Scot Ritchie. Pajama, $18.95 ISBN 978-1-77278-320-9. Ages 3–7. After forgetfulness leads to a tattered broom, a young witch struggles to pass her first flying test until she stages a rescue.
BroomMates: A Brewing Boundary Battle
Lynne Marie and Brenda Reeves Sturgis, illus. by Nico Ecenarro. Little Press, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-956378-27-6. Ages 4–8. In this rhyming tale that pits glitter against gloom, two “witchy mismatched sisters” learn to tolerate each other’s differences.
Alex Boniello and April Lavalle, illus. by Olivia Chin Mueller. Abrams, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-4197-7244-3. Ages 4–8. Boniello and Lavalle offer an emotionally attuned portrait of how to support a melancholic friend in this pun-filled picture book.
How Do Dinosaurs Say Trick or Treat?
Jane Yolen, illus. by Mark Teague. Scholastic Press, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-338-89198-0. Ages 3–5. The prehistoric creatures take to the streets to enjoy Halloween festivities.
I Got the Spooky Spirit
Connie Schofield-Morrison, illus. by Frank Morrison. Bloomsbury, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-5476-0699-3. Ages 3–6. In the latest addition to a series that includes I Got the Rhythm and I Got the Christmas Spirit, a girl enjoys preparing for the most haunting season of the year.
It’s Not Easy Being a Ghost
Marilyn Sadler, illus. by Stephanie Laberis. Random House, $10.99 ISBN 978-0-593-70290-1. Ages 3–7. The latest in the It’s Not Easy Being series follows Misty the Ghost as she tries to convince everyone that she’s scary and not cute.
The Ghost Who Was Afraid of Everything
Nadia Ahmed. Beaming, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-5064-9511-8. Ages 4–7. An anxiety-ridden spirit develops a plan to overcome his phobias in this tale of Halloween courage.
Griselda Snook’s Spectacular Books
Barry Timms, illus. by Laura Borio. Tiger Tales, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-6643-0046-0. Ages 3–7. Henry proclaims that he’s not much of a reader, but the boy changes his tune when by happenstance he’s drafted as assistant to shop owner Griselda Snook, and helps out at her Halloween-themed bookstore.
The Haunted Scavenger Hunt: A Spook-tacular Storybook
Steve Patschke, illus. by Roland Garrigue. Templar, $15.99 ISBN 978-1-5362-3523-4. Ages 3–7. Sammy, Jenny, Sara, and Pete succumb to temptation when they come across a box that warns them to keep it closed.
Raahat Kaduji. Scholastic Press, $7.99 paper ISBN 978-1-338-89964-1. Ages 3–5. Looks are definitely deceiving in Kaduji’s warmhearted debut about a lonely little bat who can’t dispel the misperception that he’s a scary monster who eats bears for breakfast.
Maggie Edkins Willis. S&S/Wiseman, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-66592-785-7. Ages 4–8. Halloween becomes a time for making new friends in Edkins Willis’s picture book debut, an encouraging story about a shy ghost whose new pal helps him embrace “his spooky, sparkly self.”
David Slonim. Chronicle, $17.99 ISBN 978-1-79721-665-2. Ages 3–5. Slonim plays familiar bedtime routines for laughs in this not-so-scary look at how Momster and Big Monster help Little Monster settle in for the night.
The Little Witch Who Lost Her Broom!
Elaine Bickell, illus. by Raymond McGrath. Flamingo, $18.99 ISBN 978-0-593-69238-7. Ages 4–8. After discovering that the broom is missing, Little Witch tries alternative modes of transportation.
Christy Mandin. Cartwheel, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-3390-2327-4. Ages 2–6. Young Millie Fleur prefers her garden filled with unruly plants and must prove to her neighbors that it’s worth keeping.
Danesh Mohiuddin. Owlkids, $18.95 ISBN 978-1-77147-595-2. Ages 3–6. What do a wee wolf and its mummy get up to all night? The young furry narrator shares its version of events in this sweetly scary slice-of-life story.
Bethan Stevens. Frances Lincoln, $18.99 ISBN 978-0-7112-7601-7. Ages 4–7. Stevens plays with wicked-witch tropes in this empathic tale of a protagonist who doesn’t quite fit her peers’ mold.
Jolene and Shaian Gutiérrez, illus. by Gabby Zapata. Chronicle, $17.99 ISBN 978-1-7972-1562-4. Ages 3–5. Adhering to the structure of “This Is the House That Jack Built,” mother-daughter authors Gutiérrez compose a warmly rendered rhyming poem, in English and Spanish, about a family preparing for Día de los Muertos.
Spooky Poems Aloud: 25 Poems to Frighten and Delight
Joseph Coelho, illus. by Daniel Gray-Barnett. Wide Eyed, $19.99 ISBN 978-0-7112-8740-2. Ages 5–7. This compendium of Halloween-themed poems proves that the holiday can illicit both fear and joy.
Things That Go Bump in the Day
Melinda Beatty, illus. by Charlene Chua. Dial, $18.99 ISBN 978-0-593-61664-2. Ages 4–8. Typical daytime noises—at first listen, a fire engine, a lawn mower—jangle the nerves and fuel the imagination of a young vampire trying to get some shuteye, in Beatty’s reassuring take on bedtime anxieties.
Trick-or-Treating in the City
Tiffany D. Jackson, illus. by Sawyer Cloud. Dial, $18.99 ISBN 978-0-593-11028-7. Ages 4–8. When her parents can’t take her trick or treating, Janelle enlists the help of New York City neighbors to conjure the Halloween spirit.
Trick or Treat on Scary Street
Lance Bass, illus. by Roland Garrigue. Union Square, $18.99 ISBN 978-1-4549-5217-6. Ages 4–8. A child clad in a werewolf getup guides a crew of mischievous costumed friends along the titular street’s Halloween trail until members of the group begin to vanish.
Chris Ayala-Kronos, illus. by Rea Zhai. Clarion, $12.99 ISBN 978-0-0633-4789-2. Ages 4–8. In this seasonal celebration, a family joins a high-spirited crowd at a local parking lot for an afternoon of “Trunk-or-Treat” festivities.
Raúl the Third. Versify, $16.99 ISBN 978-0-0632-7713-7. Ages 4–8. Little Lobo leads a group trick-or-treating and shares frightening stories to celebrate Halloween and Día de los Muertos in this addition to the World of ¡Vamos! Series.
Wacky Witches and Their Peculiar Familiars
April Suddendorf, trans. from the German by April Suddendorf. NorthSouth, $19.95 ISBN 978-0-7358-4548-0. Ages 4–8. Suddendorf celebrates 17 uniquely gifted witches and “their peculiar familiars” in this magic-filled book.
Lenny Wen. Clarion, $19.99 ISBN 978-0-06-328894-2. Ages 4–8. An ambitious ghost learns a necessary lesson about balance in Wen’s fully imagined story.
Donna David, illus. by Eamonn O’Neill. Macmillan, $8.99 paper ISBN 978-1-03-500587-1. Ages 2–4. In a rib-tickling romp for young readers, David dresses the popular party game “Would you rather?” in Halloween garb.
Alan Katz, illus. by Stephanie Laberis. HarperCollins, $18.99 ISBN 978-0-06-327386-3. Ages 4–8. At the direction of zookeeper Sue, the City Zoo crew come out of their cages and habitats for a rowdy Halloween costume parade in this rhyming revel.
Dracula's First Tooth and Jekyll’s Bad Mood
Jen Arena, illus. by Betowers. Workman Kids, board book $7.99. Ages up to 3. In these dual releases reimagining popular horror figures, Dracula finds his first fang growing in, and when Jekyll doesn’t get the treat he wants, his alter ego Hyde surprises everyone.
Middle Grade
Christine Virnig. Aladdin, $17.99 ISBN 978-1-6659-4657-5. Ages 8–12. Caleb notices how everyone in his new Halloween-obsessed town Samhain is in costume and acts like the character they’re portraying—all the time.
The Disappearance of White Pine Beach (Monsterton #1)
Danielle McKechnie, illus. by Simón Estrada. Andrews McMeel, $22.99 ISBN 978-1-5248-8117-7. Ages 8–12. Eleven-year-old Otto moves to the island of Monsterton, which boasts scary yet fantastical items, creatures, and mysteries, and Otto must learn to adjust to his new home.
D.W. Gillespie. Delacorte, $17.99 ISBN 978-0-593-65181-0. Ages 8–12. A decades-old witch’s spell holds a small town in peril in this sardonic thriller by Gillespie, a children’s debut.
Nancy Spector, Monster Detective 1: The Case of the Missing Spot
Stephen W. Martin, illus. by Linh Pham. Algonquin, $24.99 ISBN 978-1-64375-305-8; $12.99 paper ISBN 978-1-64375-065-1. Ages 7–11. Detective Nancy’s first case is the hunt for an invisible dog.
The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night (The Pumpkin Princess #1)
Steven Banbury. Little, Brown, $17.99 ISBN 978-0-316-57298-9; $8.99 paper ISBN 978-0-316-57299-6. Ages 8–12. When a tween shows no fear, the Pumpkin King—a terrifying figure with a jack-o’-lantern for a head—adopts her, names her Eve, and takes her home to the hidden Hallowell Valley, a refuge for all manner of spirits and monsters, where she is to be crowned the Pumpkin Princess. The book received a starred review from PW.
Young Adult
Michelle Kulwicki. Page Street, $18.99 ISBN 979-8-89003-960-6. Ages 14 and up. Zan has been leading marked souls to the Styx to be consumed after death, and teenage Bash has spent months reliving memories of the car accident in which his mother died. When Bash dreams about the Styx, Zan frantically searches for a way to keep Bash alive, even if it means sacrificing everything he’s worked for five centuries to achieve.
The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s
Hanna Alkaf. Salaam Reads, $19.99 ISBN 978-1-5344-9458-9. Ages 14 and up. The students of St. Bernadette’s, a 112-year-old premier all-girls school, inexplicably begin to let out terrified, unrelenting screams in this dark thriller set in Kuala Lumpur. The book received a starred review from PW.
David Arnold, illus. by Jose Pimienta. Viking, $24.99 ISBN 978-0-593-62090-8; $17.99 paper ISBN 978-0-593-62091-5. Ages 14 and up. Best friends Ty and Burger decide to track down a friend in the middle of their dystopian present.
Logan-Ashley Kisner. Delacorte, $19.99 ISBN 978-0-5938-1474-1. Ages 14 and up. When transgender 18-year-old exes Erin and Max are fed to the ominous Bullitt Beast, they must decide how far they’re willing to go to save themselves—and each other.
Amy Goldsmith. Delacorte, $19.99 ISBN 978-0-59370-395-3. Ages 14 and up. After social outcast Meg is extended an olive branch and invited to a Halloween getaway, mysterious rumors of a banshee haunting the halls begin circulating and Meg learns that there is more to the estate—and her friends themselves—than she anticipated.
Aislinn Brophy. Putnam, $19.99 ISBN 978-0-593-35455-1. Ages 12 and up. The lives of two Boston teens—one witch and one nonmagical mortal—are turned upside down following their meeting and subsequent decision to date in this second-chance romance.
Alena Bruzas. Rocky Pond, $19.99 ISBN 978-0-593616-20-8. Ages 14 and up. Bruzas interweaves real-life U.S. history with brutal horror elements to craft a grotesque reimagining of the founding of America, set in 1609 James Fort.
