Last week at Russell Elementary School in Rumney, NH, professional storyteller Simon Brooks captivated kindergarteners through eighth graders with a hilarious Halloween tale about a trick-or-treater and the cursed black bubblegum (that’s him telling stories at RES above). Students of all ages squealed and giggled and were completely enraptured in Simon’s scary voices and pantomiming as he engaged them in the creepy tale.
With Halloween coming up and the days getting darker, it’s the perfect time to read scary, creepy-crawly (and yes, funny) stories together with your little monsters. Your local library or bookstore likely has a display of Halloween-themed books for young readers, from the bravest monsters to the scaredy-cats.
Here are some of CLiF Staff’s (and their kids’) favorites:
A Halloween Scare by Eric James, illustrated by Marina Le Ray
This funny, family-friendly Halloween story has more than 70 location-themed versions with local scenery and references. Lucky for us, there are versions in both Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as a wider-reaching New England version.
Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet! By Lisa Desimini: A fun and adorable tale of naughty witches and stinky socks
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Read this Halloween classic before ABC Family plays the movie for the millionth time (Did you know Linus has been waiting in the pumpkin patch for 50 years? There are some great 50th anniversary editions out there!).
- Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark: Editor Alvin Schwartz now has three collections of Scary Stories, and his website includes lots of scary games, movies, and other scary stuff. (Warning: These revised classic ghost stories and urban legends are intended for kids, but some of them are quite…well, scary, so may be best for older or extremely brave kids. I remember having nightmares about the girl with the ribbon around her neck when I read this perhaps a little too young.)
And here are some great resources for Halloween books to read with your little ghouls:
- Not So Scary Picture Books for Halloween
- 8 Books & Movies to Get Kids Ready for Halloween
- Family-Friendly Book and Movie Pairings for Halloween (E.g. Does your family love Hocus Pocus? Here are some witch-friendly books you may want to check out.)
- Semi-Scary Books for Middle Grade Readers
- Scholastic’s list of cool mystery and horror books for kids
- R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series website also has lots of fun games and quizzes
- Brightly Family Book Club is a great resource for discussion questions, games and fun ideas any time of the year, but this month’s selection happens to be Nightmares! by actor (and now author) Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. Brightly’s page has some fun suggestions for recipes and decorations based on the book.
Happy Halloween from all of us at CLiF!
