The Best Halloween Books for Kids. Some personalized, some not!
Updated as of May 2024
Spooky season is just around the corner, and the Halloween decorations are already going up. You might argue that it’s too early, but it’s never too early to play dress up! While I wrote this blog, the sheer number of Halloween books out there for kids astonished me. There’s plenty to choose from to introduce your little one to the magic of Halloween, or to help them feel a little less scared of monsters!
Until we have our very own Halloween Manimal Tale, here are some of our other favorites:
(updated list on May 2024)
1. What Will I Be? A Spooky A-B-C Story!
Our personalized Halloween book, What Will I Be? A Spooky A-B-C Story! is the best option out there for a ghoulishly good time.
This seriously fun personalized book invites your child to explore imaginative professions and find their name on every page, making it perfect for Halloween or for any time they crave thrills and chills.
Help your child find their name hidden in each illustration—some are easy, but others are quite tricky! Spend hours sparking their imagination by thinking up new spooky characters every time you read this book.
Unlike typical professions, these fun, spooky roles will excite and stimulate their creativity. This personalized spooky ABC book is perfect for Halloween or any occasion to give your child a delightful scare! Make the spooky season more special for your child with our personalized halloween book!
2. How to Catch a Monster by Adam Wallace
How to Catch a Monster is a heartwarming tale of a little boy who gets the part of a ninja master and his school play - so he thinks it’s time to take down the monster in his closet. As soon as he manages to overcome his fear and trap the monster, he realizes that the monster is not as scary as he thought! In fact, all the monster wants to do is play with the boy. This book is great for kids who might be scared of Halloween, or of monsters in their closet or under their bed.
2. Splat the Cat: What Was That? By Rob Scotton
This book is part of a larger series of books that feature Splat, the cat. Splat and his friends Spike and Seymour have just finished trick or treating, when Seymour runs into an old spooky house to check it out. Forced to go look for him, Splat and Spike wander through the house and hear all kinds of scary noises, and spooky figures. Finally, they find Seymour - the source of all the spooky noises as he moaned and groaned after eating too much candy. This lift a flap book has gorgeous illustrations and is the Halloween book for toddlers!
3. Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margaret Cuyler
Bonaparte is about to start school and he can’t stop his bones from falling all over the place. He’s so afraid that all the children are going to make fun of him. So, his friends Franky Stein, Blacky Widow and Mummicula (how adorable are these names??) try and come up with ways to keep him together. Finally, Bonaparte’s friends help him find the perfect solution that makes him the cool kid on the block at school! A wonderful Halloween-themed story about friendship and being different, Bonaparte Falls Apart is a must-have.
4. The Spooky Wheels on the Bus by J. Elizabeth Mills
This fun sing-along book is a Halloween-themed parody of “The wheels on the bus go round and round”. Kids meet spooktacular characters like mummies, ghosts, cats, spiders and more. The Spooky Wheels on the Bus is great for toddlers and younger kids. If you’re looking for a great read-aloud rendition of this book, you can find one here!
5. Llama Llama Trick or Treat by Anna Dewdney
Llama Llama Trick or treat is a great book for a first Halloween. Short and easy to read, the book follows Llama Llama as he decides what to dress up as for Halloween, and how he goes trick or treating with his friends. Sweet and simple. This board book is perfect for smaller children or toddlers, especially as an introduction to Halloween.
6. What was I scared of? By Dr. Seuss
This classic Dr. Seuss book is about a spooky pair of animated empty green pants that haunts a rabbit wherever he goes. Eventually, the rabbit realizes that the empty green pants are scared of him too, and that he should have never been so frightened of them in the first place. What Was I Scared of is a great book to help kids overcome their fears, especially around Halloween.
7. Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex
Goodnight Goon is a Halloween themed parody of Goodnight Moon. The book features a delightful cast of monsters, ghouls and mummies to say goodnight too, as well as a number of different Halloween objects and characters like scary bats, black hats and more! If your child is a fan of the Goodnight Moon book, this scary parody is a great choice for Halloween!
Another classic, The Witches by Roald Dahl is meant for older children - the book has fewer pictures and is much longer than any of the other books featured on this list. The Witches is about a little boy and his grandmother who set out to defeat child-hating witches. The witches have planned to turn all the children into mice, and they must stop them before that happens. The Witches is still considered to be one of the scariest children’s books ever, so you might want to make sure it won’t frighten your little one too much.
9. B is for Boo: A Halloween Alphabet by Greg Paprocki
A great Halloween themed ABC book for kids, B is for Boo is great for young children and toddlers to introduce them to Halloween words like Candy, Zombie, Dracula and more! The illustrations in this book are wonderful full page illustrations of each word that can really immerse your child in the spooky, magical world of Halloween.
Fright Club is a cute story about inclusion. A small group of monsters are trying to get ready for ‘Operation Kiddie Scare’, when they keep getting interrupted by cute animals that want to be a part of Fright Club. The leader Vlad keeps saying no until the cute animals scare all the monsters! After that, Vlad learns that not only monsters can be scary, but so can animals that seem cute and harmless. Fright Club is a great story about not being deceived by first appearances and always remembering to include everyone.
If none of these Halloween books seem right for your child, here’s a whole bunch more:
What’s your kids favorite Halloween Book? Also, Have a spooktacular Halloween this year!
P.S: Don’t steal all your kid’s candy.
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General Questions
Manimal Tales is a publisher of beautifully illustrated personalized books. We have personalized books for children and adults. From birthday books to new baby tales, and from bedtime stories to ABC books, we have custom books for all occasions!
We even offer PhotoStories, our personalized picture books with photos.
At Manimal Tales, we fervently believe every child should be the hero of their own story!
Personalized books (or custom books as they are sometimes referred to) allow the reader to become the hero of the story - literally.
The main character in the story is the reader / receiver of the book, and is represented by an avatar that looks like them. There are usually lots of additional personalized details printed in the stories, including the receiver's name, age, family members and more.
Our PhotoStories offer a whole new level of personalization by allowing you to add your own photos into the story and have them printed out with the book.
Browse through our collection of custom books to see which ones work for your loved ones!
It's super easy to personalize your own book!
Browse through our collection of personalized stories and select the titles you want. On the product page, add the details required to personalize the book (name, age, family members, photos etc.). You can then preview the entire book before you buy, so you know exactly what you're going to get!
Once you're satisfied, add the book to your cart, enter your payment details and your unique, one-of-a-kind personalized book will arrive on your doorstep in 6 to 9 days!
The short answer is that it depends on the personalized book title in question!
All books will have your loved one as the main protagonist and their name will be printed on the book cover as well as in the story.
In some of our books like Dreamland and What Will I Be? the (the An ABC Story) your loved one's name is printed on every page.
In our Manimal Tales series, in addition to your child's name, you can select an avatar that looks like your child.
In our custom baby tales, Your Baby's Story and Your Baby's Story (Sibling version), you have to enter names and select avatars for the parents and the siblings as well.
And for our PhotoStories, you can further customize the books by uploading and adding your own photos directly into the book. The stories have been written to incorporate the photos as part of the story itself.
Whichever personalized book you do choose, we guarantee your loved one's will love our custom tales just as much as we do!
We have books for all ages and occasions! On the menu bar at the top of the page you can filter through our collections of personalized books by a variety of different criteria.
We have personalized books for:
We also offer custom books with engaging stories about:
- Standing up for your beliefs
We have personalized books across all ages:
Lastly we have our PhotoStories, which allow users to upload photos and have them become part of the story!
Nothing beats getting a book with your name on it!
Personalized books are treasured and loved by all, and make great keepsakes.
We offer custom books for all occasions, ensuring you will always find a book to meet your needs.
You can always reach us by filling out our Contact Form.