The New Jersey Children’s Writer’s Guild

Member Sandra Koehler Lee reviews five great Halloween stories for children

Sharing some fun and spooky (but not scary) stories with your toddler or preschooler is a great way to celebrate Halloween. These books all have great plots with elements appealing to children and the parents reading to them.

A surefire favorite among parents and kids alike will be Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex. The colorfully illustrated cartoon mummies, werewolves and ghouls accompany the rhyming text. Those familiar with the classic Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown will recognize the rhythm of her book in Rex’s parody with clever substitutions such as “goodnight tomb” instead of “goodnight moon.” This creepy but cute homage is certain to become a Halloween classic.

Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw is a great way to introduce very young children to the fun and fanciful aspects of this fall holiday but toddlers and preschoolers will love it, too. Like Goodnight Goon, this is a rhyming book with great illustrations and a funny storyline. The reader follows a group of sheep who dress up and go trick-or-treating to get goodies from the farm animals and even the resident spiders. Children will be chuckling at the illustrations as their parents read.

Dragon’s Halloween by Dav Pilkey is a collection of three stories featuring a lovable dragon named, well, Dragon. The three stories stand alone or can be read in one sitting and offer funny moments that children and parents can enjoy. For example, Dragon decides in one tale that his Halloween disguise will be scarier if he combines three different costumes so he wears parts of a mummy, a witch and a vampire. Adults and older children will immediately realize how funny that is and young children will get the joke once they see the illustration of Dragon’s silly ensemble.

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson is a longer rhyming story about a witch who picks up several friends while riding her broom and has a little adventure. This is a longer story that is probably better suited for older toddlers and preschoolers who would sit long enough to hear the quirky ending. The smooth rhythm of the story, the wonderful illustrations and the comical situations will entertain children as well as the adults who may be begged to read this story again and again.

Maggie and the Monster by Elizabeth Winthrop is not strictly a Halloween story like the others but monsters are typically part of the holiday and this is a very cute tale. Maggie encounters a goofy-looking monster in her room but instead of being scared, she’s actually mad and then puzzled by the monster’s nightly visits. Kids will love solving the mystery and it might just help your child to feel safer about being alone in his or her room at night.

Your little ghoul or ghost will love all these stories that really capture the lighthearted aspect of Halloween and even after you’ve read them for the 100th time, you’ll still love them.

~ Sandra Koehler Lee

Sandra is a former newspaper reporter and current freelance writer living in Central New Jersey. She also runs ParenthoodNJ (parenthoodnj.com), an online resource for NJ parents, and reads to her preschooler every night.

You can view Sandra’s full list of great fall holiday books at her web site.