Fun Halloween Poems And Books For Children

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While Halloween has been aimed at children for decades, our spookiest holiday can sometimes be too much for the younger ones. Introducing children to some of the spooky characters they are likely to see prowling the streets before October 31st can help ensure a positive trick-or-treating experience. Reading fun Halloween poems and books is a lighthearted way for kids to build up positive associations with ghosts, goblins, witches and monsters.

Fun Halloween Poems for Kids

Children of all ages can benefit from the introduction of poetry as exposure to rhyming is a step towards learning to rhyme themselves, and a valuable skill when children are learning to read. If a scary costume is upsetting your child on the big night, the recital of a corresponding poem they giggled along with from the cosiness of their room might turn the moment around.

Paul Perro’s Halloween poems are easy to remember and great for introducing the mainstays of Halloween culture: mummies, witches, skeletons, werewolves, vampires, jack o’ lanterns and ghosts. His poems include funny skeletons who are just bone, and “Sometimes for fun, they play their ribs just like a xylophone” (Skeleton). He cleverly acknowledges the presence of scary monsters and then quickly dismisses it by saying not to worry: “The jack o’ lanterns will scare them off. They won’t be back in a hurry.”

Gareth Lancaster’s Halloween poems also present monsters in a friendly manner by drawing attention to their vulnerabilities, such as the monster who needs practice scaring: “I showed him how to breathe and to focus on his task. To make his scare more natural, ‘should I growl?’ the monster asked” (Practicing Scaring).

Photo by Alex Geerts on Unsplash

Fun Halloween Books for Kids

The choices of Halloween books for kids are endless. Selecting appropriate stories for younger children simply involves making sure the characters and illustrations are presented in a fun and non-threatening way. Funny stories that allude to a scary character’s vulnerabilities are great as it shows children that even scary creatures have challenges to overcome. Below are a few great choices.

Whooo’s Haunting the Teeny Tiny Ghost?

The Teeny Tiny Ghost series, written by Kay Winters and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, is a must-have. The little ghost character is someone children can relate to as he struggles to fulfill his spooky destiny while grappling with his own fears and limitations.

Big Pumpkin {affiliate link}

Written by Erica Silverman and illustrated by S.D. Schindler, Big Pumpkin is a Halloween take on the classic folktale, The Enormous Turnip. It relates the trials of a witch as she attempts to pull her enormous pumpkin out of the ground. Despite the efforts of a determined ghost, vampire and mummy, it takes the help of a little bat to save the day.

Skeleton Hiccups {affiliate link}

Written by Margery Cuyler and illustrated by S.D. Schindler, Skeleton Hiccups is a silly and funny story about a skeleton’s incurable case of hiccups. As hiccups are something kids can relate to, pairing them with a potentially scary character is a clever way to dowplay its scary element and highlight its funny potential. This is a unique story whose words and pictures are sure to tickle your little one’s funny bone!

Young children can be unpredictable, but with a little effort on your behalf, you can help better prepare them to enjoy the magic and mayhem of Halloween in all its spooky glory.