Halloween Board Books For 2 and 3 year olds

Halloween is a super fun holiday and one that kids love to celebrate well before and even well after the actual day. If you haven’t gotten your Halloween books out yet, now is the time. Board books are my favorite for 2-3-year-olds because at this age they are still developing the hand control to turn pages carefully. Board books give toddlers and young preschoolers the freedom to use books independently without having to be extra careful. This age group should be using books on their own time, not just when an adult chooses to read to them. Here are some of my absolute favorite Halloween board books.

This book list includes affilate links.

Spooky Pookie by Sandra Boynton is an adorable rhyming book all about a little pig trying to find just the right costume for Halloween. The images are fun and simple, and there is nothing spooky about this book, despite its title. A great little read for toddlers.

Maisy’s Halloween by Lucy Cousins is a cute board book for toddlers that follows Maisy’s search for the right Halloween costume. There is something about this little mouse that children just love. My daughter will reach for a Maisy book over just about any other if given a choice. The story is also a cute introduction to the fun we have dressing up for Halloween.

Where Is Baby’s Pumpkin?by Karen Katz. Is a Halloween favorite at our house and has been for years. I don’t think the book has ever been really put away since buying it when my son was a toddler. It went from my son to my daughter and now is a favorite in my classroom. Karen Katz’s lift the flap books are more than just cute, the flaps and different textures keep little hands busy and little bodies calm enough to sit for the whole book.

It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse! (If You Give) by Laura Numeroff is a Halloween themed book about emotions. Mouse is busy painting his pumpkins and paints different faces representing different emotions on each. This is a great little book that gives parents a wonderful opener to talk about different emotions when things are calm. There is one scary pumpkin, but I doubt it will frighten any readers.

 

Boo! by Leslie Patricelli is a great Halloween book for 2-4-year-olds who have little to no memory of previous Halloweens. It covers carving pumpkins, finding costumes, and even how scary it can be at first to trick-or-treat. I especially adore the page with all different jack-o-lantern faces with different emotions and when the baby is trying on different costumes how they have all sorts of different costumes from princesses to cowboys, to ghosts. I appreciate this small nod to inclusiveness. I can’t wait to read this to my class in the coming weeks.

Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell is a great fall board book that isn’t just about Halloween. It starts with a family going to pick pumpkins and apples at a local farm and ends with trick or treating. I like how this book shows the process and progression that fall events take throughout the season. It’s a great circle time book for 2-3-year-olds.

10 Trick-or-Treaters by Janet Schulman is one of my favorite Halloween books, and both my children love it. We read it leading up to and well after Halloween last year. The premise is simple, a group of trick or treaters are pegged off one by one as they are scared by some Halloween creature.  Readers count down from 10 to 0 and enjoy the bright, detailed illustrations as they do. I particularly like the cute costumes and the final page which has another countdown with candy. It’s always fun to count candy right?

Mouse’s First Halloween by Lauren Thompson is a sweet and really well-done book. The story follows a little mouse who is easily afraid of the many things on Halloween night, but one by one discovers that things like falling leaves, jack-o-lanterns, and trick or treaters aren’t so scary after all. I love the repetition in this book, and the illustrations by Bucket Erdogan epitomize the fall spookiness that Halloween nights are filled with. Thumbs up from my class and me.