Best Children's Books for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Fall Season Reading

Feeling spooked looking for the right fall holiday children's book? Chill-out with the giggles and surprises in these top choice read-aloud and great read-alone books for the fall season, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.

Los Gatos Black on Halloween: By Marisa Montes. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales.
32 pages. Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, c2006.

Los Gatos Black on Halloween, by MarisaMontes, is scarier than most picture books. It's a terrific read-aloud or read-alone for 8 to 12 year olds who adore creepy stories and pictures. However, it is cautioned against younger children and even 8 to 12 year olds who do not thrive on eerie stories and illustrations. The publisher's website says it's meant for ages 4 to 8, but the book is kind of dark for kids so young, even though it is a picture book. Adults should pre-read it before deciding whether or not to present it to such young audiences. However, Los Gatos Black on Halloween is a terrific book for the kids who can take it for exactly what it is - just a fun fictional read with great pictures!

Los Gatos Black on Halloween uses Spanish and English words interchangeably, making it fun for both solely English and solely Spanish speakers to pick up vocabulary of another language. Also, it opens up opportunity for discussion questions on different Halloween traditions, like "Why do people dress-up on Halloween?" and what is "Mexico's tradition of Dia de los Muertos?"

The Case of the Halloween Ghost: By John R. Erickson. Illustrated by Gerald L. Holmes.
123 pages - paperback. Publisher: Puffin Books, c1999.

The Case of the Halloween Ghost, by John R. Erickson, is a funny and suspenseful detective mystery story. Hank the cow dog and his cowardly companion, Drover, find themselves in their scariest adventure ever!

The Case of the Halloween Ghost is just one of the 54 popular, Hank the Cow Dog, book series which are published for the children's fiction market, but adult readers find equally entertaining. Some adult literacy programs across America have incorporated the Hank, the Cow Dog books into their curriculum to encourage pleasure reading beyond the Sunday newspaper comic strips. Hank the Cow Dog adventure books are available in Spanish and English, on CD and audiocassettes, and can be found in countless school and public libraries across the U.S.

Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots: By Debbie Dadey and Marcia Jones. Illustrated by John Steven Gurney.
78 pages - paperback. Publisher: Scholastic, c1990.

Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots is the book that began the entire craze for kids to have a truly funny alternative to the Goosebumps series. Readers can relate to the characters right away in Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots. Centered in Bailey School's unruly third grade classroom, a new teacher, named Mrs. Jeepers, shows up and things really get weird.

Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots has a link at Debbie Dadey's website with a free suggested classroom play and there are other teaching guide ideas at the website for this and other Bailey School Kids series' books. This is just one of over 80 awesome books in the Bailey School Kids Book Series' tongue-in-cheek mysteries for the grade 2 and up audience to read-aloud or read-alone. They are all holiday themed, like such as Ghosts Don't Eat Potato Chips, Dragons Do Eat Homework, and don't miss the Bailey School Kid Thanksgiving Special: Swamp Monsters Don't Chase Wild Turkeys! Scholastic Books has each of the 80+ books available for $3.99 or in sets.

The Stranger: Story & pictures by Chris Van Allsburg.
32 pages - hardbound. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, c1986.

The name Chris Van Allsburg often brings to mind his book to movie publication, The Polar Express, but Chris wrote and illustrated another fantasy weaving realistic imagery and situations with science fiction. The Stranger walks a very fine line between fiction and reality.

The Stranger is my all-time favorite read-aloud for Halloween or for Thanksgiving. In regards to the spirit of Halloween, The Stranger begins with a shock as a farmer's truck hits a stranger on a lonely roadway, and the story builds in eerie mystery.

As a Thanksgiving read-aloud, The Stranger holds a surprise twist on the idea of responsibility for actions and the value of generosity, along with each soul's call to their own purpose in life.

The Stranger is a terrific opportunity for discussion on responsibility for one's actions, the changing of the seasons, and a guessing game on the stranger's identity. Intended for ages 5 through 8, according to the publisher, Chris Allsburg's The Stranger is really a book for age 5 to 105. The underlying themes are far reaching to the adult heart, as well as the child's mind.

The publisher even provides free online teaching guide specifically designated to early readers and to experienced readers for expanding learning opportunities for The Stranger.

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving: Story & pictures by Dav Pilkey.
32 pages - hardcover and paperback. Publisher: Scholastic, Inc., c1990, 2004

This funny, chaotic version of Clement Moore's famous poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, hits the ground running when eight children on a school field trip to a farm are shocked at the sight of the farmer's axe. Their barnyard antics in attempting to rescue the turkeys from a certain fate roll in wacky abandon from one page to the next.

Intended for readers aged 4 to 8, 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving makes the top 5 list because it reaches far beyond the intended readership, from 4 to 104. It is a likely choice for starting, or maintaining the tradition of a laughable, boisterous read-aloud around the Thanksgiving Day table year after year.

Where to Find These Books

School libraries and public libraries are the best resources for free access to these best of the best Fall Holidays' books for young and old. Borrow one as a fun, surprise entertaining addition to Halloween Parties and Thanksgiving Day gatherings. To purchase any of these terrific books or any other for your favorite trick-or-treating child or as a Thanksgiving Day surprise gift, Amazon , Scholastic, Inc., and Barnes & Noble are competitive online shopping resources for children's books.