The following picture books are great options for celebrating the season in a not-so-scary way.
I’M NOT SCARY, by Raahat Kaduji, Scholastic Press, July 2, 2024, Paperback, $7.99 (ages 3-5)
A warm and funny friendship story perfect for Halloween!
Bat just wants to make friends, but everyone is scared of him!
When other animals see Bat’s shadow at their window, they’re terrified and think he’s a monster. How can Bat show them that he just wants to share some cake?
This is the perfect snuggle-up bedtime story, with rich, glowing pictures, and a gentle, reassuring friendship story. Children will fall in love with little Bat, who longs to share his baking with some friends. —Synopsis provided by Scholastic Press
This tender story is full of charming characters that little ones will enjoy. It’s a fun way to explain why some things we think are scary are actually not, making it a good choice for Halloween.
I GOT THE SPOOKY SPIRIT, by Connie Schofield-Morrison and Frank Morrison, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, July 23, 2024, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 3-6)
It’s October, and that means it’s time to carve pumpkins, hang up spooky decorations, and host a big ghosty dance party!
This girl hears the spooky spirit howling in the windy, misty gloom — SWOOM, SWOOP, SWOOSH! She dances with other ghouls and goblins — MONSTER MASH! She trades candy with her new spooky friend–CRACKLE CRUNCH!
Halloween may only be one night, but she knows the spooky spirit will be back next year. —Synopsis provided by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
The latest addition to the series including I Got the Rhythm, I Got the Christmas Spirit, and I Got the School Spirit, explores Halloween with the same great spirit found in previous books. The text has great rhythm and the illustrations are bold and exciting.
LITTLE ORANGE PUMPKIN: A HEARTWARMING HALLOWEEN BOOK FOR CHILDREN, by Erin Guendelsberger and Jennifer Zivoin, Sourcebooks Wonderland, Aug. 6, 2024, Hardcover, $12.99 (ages 4-8)
Little Orange Pumpkin has been waiting all year for Halloween night to come! She has big plans to collect lots of candy and find all the spooky, scary things in her neighborhood, and she is going to do it all by herself, no matter what her Mommy and Daddy say. Deep in her heart, she believes she is ready, but when Little Pumpkin slips into a magical, spooky world full of monsters, she realizes that maybe she doesn’t want to be a big pumpkin just yet! This Halloween, she just might learn you’re never alone when you have family who love you. —Synopsis provided by Sourcebooks Wonderland
This nostalgic read is full of adorable illustrations and a story grownups will enjoy reading with children. Even “scary” creatures are friendly in this gentle Halloween read.
THE PUMPKIN SEED’S SECRET: A Life Cycle Poem, by Hannah Barnaby and Cédric Abt, Sourcebooks Explore, July 2, 2024, Hardcover, $14.99 (ages 4-8)
In this rhyming picture book about the life cycle of a pumpkin, a pumpkin becomes something new with each turn of the page, from a flower to a house to a face. Extensive back matter on the pumpkin life cycle, fun pumpkin facts, and a pumpkin seed recipe are included.
A pumpkin is a seed.
A plain little seed with a secret inside,
A pocket, a pip with a new life to hide.
To hide and to hold
As springtime unfolds,
A pumpkin begins as a seed.
A pumpkin is a sprout.
A curious sprout with one leaf and then two,
A budding, a nudging, a slow peekaboo.
Happy for rain
And sunshine again,
A pumpkin pops out as a sprout. —Synopsis provided by Sourcebooks Explore
Perfect for fall – or anytime in the year – The Pumpkin Seed’s Secret follows the lifecycle of the vegetable synonymous with the season.
SPOOKY LAKES: 25 STRANGE AND MYSTERIOUS LAKES THAT DOT OUR PLANET, by Geo Rutherford and Tantor Audio, Harry N. Abrams, Sept. 24, 2024, Hardcover, $24.99 (Ages 8 and up)
From Geo Rutherford—the creator of the hit series Spooky Lake Month (over 65 million likes!)—comes this thrilling nonfiction book that plumbs the depths of 25 unusual lakes around the world.
Backed by extensive research and packed with all-new content—including eerie and eye-popping watercolor illustrations in full color—Spooky Lakes takes readers on an adventure through weird and wild waters.
Some of Earth’s strangest—and creepiest—wonders lie deep below the surface…
There’s Lake Natron, a Tanzanian lake so briny that its waters can mummify any creature that touches its surface; Lake Maracaibo, a Venezuelan tidal bay where a constantly brewing storm sends an average of 28 lightning bolts per second into the water; and at the bottom of Lake Superior, the crew of the USS Kamloops—which mysteriously disappeared in 1921—remains somehow almost perfectly preserved to this day.
Readers will learn not only about the science of hydrology, but why understanding the natural world is crucial to protecting it from pollution and climate change.
Includes a glossary, bibliography, author’s note, and index. —Synopsis provided by Harry N. Abrams
This large picture book is the type of book grownups and kids alike will enjoy. The writing is accessible and the illustrations are engaging.
Copyright © 2024 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
