All Treats, No Tricks With A Halloween Book List & Freebie
Halloween is the time of the year when we focus on ghosts, ghouls, and everything spooky. But for young kids, the holiday can be frightening and overwhelming. Today, I’m sharing a Halloween book like of some of my favorite choices guaranteed not to frighten young readers. Be sure to stick around to the end of the post, where I’m giving you a printable freebie to create your own Halloween treats this year and links to other great Halloween ideas!
ALL TREATS, NO TRICKS HALLOWEEN BOOK LIST
Little Vampire’s Big Smile
Bertie and his friends are having the best Halloween party ever, until he loses a tooth! What will this little vampire do? Rosa Von Feder wrote Little Vampire’s Big Smile, while Lindsay Dale-Scott illustrated it. The bright colors, cheerful faces, and lively text are sure to keep your little ones smiling during October!
Where’s The Pumpkin?
This sweet board book was written by Frankie Jones, illustrated by Fhiona Galloway, and designed by Mark Golden. In simple text and graphic images, it shares the story of Spook, a black cat on the hunt for a perfect pumpkin. As Spook learns about pumpkins from his friends, young readers can review characteristics of a pumpkin as well (orange, round, etc.). That makes this choice perfect for curious, young scientists. After reading, it would be fun to explore real pumpkins!
It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse!
Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond have teamed up again with another adorable holiday tale featuring Cookie Mouse. This board book features Cookie Mouse decorating pumpkins for Halloween. It’s a perfect review of emotions, as the pumpkin faces are identified as surprised, sad, silly, etc. Kids can guess which emotion is associated with each pumpkin. They can point out the clues about each face that helped them guess. Following the story, consider having kids decorate a pumpkin with an emotion. Who can guess which feeling they chose?
My Jack-o’-Lantern
Written by Nancy J. Skarmeas and illustrated by Pamela R. Levy, My Jack-O’-Lantern tells the story of young Gordie’s first time carving a pumpkin. Sweet watercolor images follow Gordie all the way from planting the seed to seeing his bright pumpkin on Halloween. It’s a great introduction to the life cycle of a pumpkin, as well as a non-threatening look at Halloween traditions.
What Is Halloween?
Michelle Medlock Adams wrote this adorable board book, while Amy Wummer illustrated it. It shifts the focus from the scary parts of Halloween onto fun, less frightening fall traditions. Kids will love the cheerful images and quick rhymes. Plus, the cast of characters in their sweet little Halloween costumes are just so cute to look at!
B Is For Boo
This Halloween alphabet book from BabyLit caught my eye immediately at the bookstore. I am full on obsessed with Greg Paprocki’s bold illustrations. The images are bright and cheerful, with a vintage feel that I can’t get enough of. B Is For Boo is a festive, fun way to talk about the alphabet with young readers, complete with some novel words for young readers like labyrinth & extraterrestrial.
I’m A Little Vampire
I’m A Little Vampire is a fun choice for an October read aloud. Sonali Fry wrote the book and Sanja Rescek contributed illustrations. The vampire in the book is cute and friendly. It’s rhymes explain that if he gets mad, he just needs some treats to be calm again. The verses of this little board book align perfectly with the classic ‘I’m A Little Teapot’. Kids will love singing along as they memorize the song. You might even consider making up hand and body motions to accompany it. After children have the whole book committed to memory, they can sit down to ‘read’ the book independently. That’s a huge confidence boost for young readers.
‘DOH’NT BE SCARED’ HALLOWEEN PRINTABLE
To accompany this not-so-scary Halloween book list, I created a fun little printable to create your own Halloween treats. (Scroll down to get yours) The printable circles fit well on a small container of Play-Doh. Use scissors to cut the circles out. Then attach them to the top of the Play-Doh with some double stick tape of scrapbook adhesive. If you like to keep your kids’ sugar intake under control, this is a great non-candy treat option. It’s perfect to pass out as favors at a Halloween party, or to a class at school.
>>> Need a fun Halloween idea to put that Play-Doh to use? This one is a hit! <<<
Does your family have any favorite non-candy Halloween treats? Tell me about them in the comments below!
>>> Grab Your Free Printable Play-Doh Halloween Tags! <<<
Be sure to visit the other great posts on this blog hop!
LarabeeUK has Hexbug Cardboard Roll Bats.
Live Love Mess has some fantastic Halloween Sensory Bins.
Clare’s Little Tots has made amazing Spooky Spider Gloop.
Lit Mama Homeschool has a brilliant book in Story Time: Trick Or Treat Smell My Feet.
Fab Working Mom Life has a wonderful Easy Toddler Spider Halloween Craft.
Essentials You May Need…
Kristina
Wonderful list of Halloween books for the younger set! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Kate
Thanks for checking out the suggestions, Kristina!
Aleney
I love this. My kids adore Halloween though it’s quite small in Australia. Will have to head to Amazon to see if it can get some of these
Kate
I hope you’re able to find some of them, Aleney!
La Shell
I love books. Wish I had these as a child. I will definitely forward to my sister for my niece and nephews for them to take a good read.
Kate
Thanks so much La Shell! Happy Halloween!
Ashley
These books are adorable! I actually just picked up My Jack-o-lantern for my daughter last week at the library. I’
ll have to grab that Daniel Tiger one, she LOVES him. Genius on the play-doh option, thanks!
Kate
Thank you so much Ashley! Hope you guys have a great holiday!
howwedo208
Thanks for sharing these book titles! I love finding cute Halloween and other holiday books for my kids. These books are perfect for little ones!
Kate
I always get my boys special themed books for each holiday, so I totally understand! Enjoy!
beyoubestrong24
Great reads for toddlers! We have read some of these. Might try to find I’m a little Vampire, my daughter is in love with the new show Vamperina.
Kate
I don’t think my boys have seen that show yet, we’ll have to check it out! Thanks for mentioning it!
lucicoo
I love this. These are some really great ideas for a kid-friendly Halloween.
Kate
Thank you so much!
Christina
Those are such cute books! I’m expecting and would love to read these to baby next year! Thanks for sharing.
Kate
Congratulations! Enjoy every minute of it!
thebritinboston
This is great, I have a 3 year old so most of these would definitely suit him!
Kate
They sound like the perfect choices for that age!
This Mum At Home
What a great little collection of ‘not so scary’ books for the little ones. Im going to look out for some of these over here 🙂
Kate
With my two year old, we can’t let things get too scary! Thanks for taking a peek!
thiscurvylife
I like that your book selection is light hearted and sweet. I hope you enjoy those selections with your little ones.
Kate
Thanks so much for checking it out!
Angela Milnes
This is fantastic. To be honest I love kids books and seeing whats new and out there for kids to read. I also love the playdough idea.
Kate
Thank you Angela- I feel the same way!
Melanie Walsh
I love reading holiday books with my little one. These are all such adorable choices for Halloween.
Kate
Thanks so much Melanie! Happy (almost) Halloween!
aya
Why didn’t I think of non-candy treats before? Definitely lessens all those cavities haha!
Little Vampire’s Big Smile sounds like a book I’d love to read! Hihi. I mean, he’s a vampire and he lost his tooth haha! So cute!
Kate
Hahaha, it’s definitely a super cute one!
Janel Berchielli (@JanelB)
These books are absolutely adorable. If my kids were younger I’m sure we would be reading these together. I might get one for my nieces.
Kate
Thanks Janel- I know I’ll miss these books when my youngest is too old to enjoy them!
Belle
These books are so adorable! My kids are going to love those!
Belle | One Awesome Momma
Kate
Thanks so much Belle! Happy (almost) Halloween!
Sheri
My son loves to read and I would get him a whole new set of books. Halloween is not celebrated much here, but is picking up slowly.
Kate
My boys love to read also! Where do you live?
Isabelle Flores
Oohh I love these ideas!! Might have to grab them for my little one below Halloween comes around 😉
Kate
Thank you Isabelle- I hope your little ones enjoy them as much as mine have!
Miss Melissa (@Melissamchee)
Love this! Books are such a great way to celebrate Halloween with the kiddos.
Kate
Books always add a little extra fun to our celebrations. Thanks Melissa!
Joline
This is great book list! My niece is too little for the really scary stuff so these are perfect for her.
Kate
My youngest is the same way! Thanks Joline!
Lyndsey
what adorable books!! we love reading our Halloween books 🙂
Kate
We do too!
Tabitha Blue / Fresh Mommy Blog
These books just look too cute. We love the library, I’ll have to see if they have any of these ones in!
Kate
I hope you were able to find some of them!
Stephanie Lee
These books are so adorable!! I love the Halloween alphabet one. You always find the cutest books! Love your printable too. With another candy filled holiday, it’s great to have non-sugar options!
Kate
My boys definitely don’t need all the sugar!
Lesly Birkland
These books look fantastic! Halloween really can be scary for younger kids. It’s nice to have something tailored to their needs.
jessgrune
I love these halloween picks! and the play doh idea is genius, totally doing that for my kindergartener’s party
Leandra Bramham
I love the play doh stickers! Such a clever idea for a non-sweet treat! Thanks for joining in with our Halloween Blog Hop ?
Leila
Oh I love this books! Thanks for sharing!
hauntedhousewife
These are so cute! I wonder if my roommates daughter would enjoy these! She’s just starting to read on her own, she may be able to get through these without help!