My Picks for the 5 Top Halloween Children's Books

My recommendations for the top 5 Halloween books for kids are derived from the list of my childrens' favorites. All of these books fall within the preschool to third grade age range.

There are so many great Halloween books written for kids that I wanted to share my top 5 all-time favorites. I admit that I arrived at this list based on the many times I read and reread these books to my children when they were little. My recommendations for the top 5 children's Halloween books are: "Rattlebone Rock," "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything," "The Lonely Scarecrow," "Corduroy's Halloween," and "Aunt Eater's Mystery Halloween. All of these books fall within the preschool to third grade age range.

My first two choices really make use of repetitive sounds. "Rattlebone Rock," written by Sylvia Andrews and illustrated by Jennifer Plecas, is a catchy, sing-song story with an upbeat tempo that will have you and your kids tapping your feet. Ghosts and goblins, witches and skeletons fly and dance around gravestones in the most rhythmic graveyard you've ever witnessed.

"The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything," written by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Lloyd, is about a brave, old woman who goes out for a walk in the woods and finds herself being followed by a very noisy disassembled ghost with the head of a pumpkin. Like "Rattlebone Rock" the rhythmic, repetitive verse is catchy and engaging.

My third recommendation is for "The Lonely Scarecrow" written by Tim Preston and illustrated by Maggie Kneen. It's about a scarecrow that lives up to his name. With his metal, jagged teeth he is so scary looking that all the woodland creatures are afraid of him. All he wants, more than anything in life, is to make some friends. He finally gets his chance when winter comes, the snow covers him from head to toe, and the animals see him as a jolly snowman!

My next choice is "Corduroy's Halloween" written by Don Freeman and illustrated by Lisa McCue. The Corduroy books are a great series of books about a bear named Corduroy who has a multitude of stuffed animal friends. Like most of the books in the series, it's a "lift-the-flap" book. In this story, he and his friends are getting ready for their fun-filled Halloween activities which include a Halloween costume parade followed by a big Halloween Party. The book follows Corduroy through his day as he gets ready for Halloween.

My final recommendation is for "Aunt Eater's Mystery Halloween" by Doug Cushman. The Aunt Eater series is about an ant eater with a flare for sleuthing. The book is a young chapter book for first through third graders and, in this book, each chapter has Ant Eater solving mini-mysteries for her neighbors as she makes her way to the Troop's Halloween party to dance the jig with a scarecrow!

Your kids will love any and all of these wonderfully written Halloween books for children!