When the leaves fall and the air turns crisp, that can only mean one thing – Halloween is near! This time of year offers a world of wonder and magic for preschoolers. And, what better way to usher in the magic of Halloween (with a dash of spookiness) than by immersing them in some delightful and “haunting” halloween books?
To help you get your little ghosts and goblins excited about not only the season but also reading, we selected 4 of our fave Halloween books to share. Moreover, we created ready to teach read alouds for each book which is our treat to you this Halloween season.
Best Halloween Books for Preschoolers
The discussion of the best books for any holiday is up for debate because, sometimes the best books depend on your preference as a teacher and the background of your students. However, there are always a handful of books that stand out for us each holiday.
Today, we are going to share with you what we think are the best four Halloween books to read with preschoolers. We love these four books so much that we put them together in one bundled read aloud pack. Therefore, making it easy for you to teach one new book a week all month long.
So, what are these four books? While we are going to tell you, first – let us tell what is included with each of the read alouds created for these books.
Preschool Halloween Learning Activities
When it comes to read alouds, we have worked hard to find a tried and true format. This goes back to our days of developing read alouds for our own students, to today where we share what we found works best with all of you!
While we first began developing our read alouds for first and second graders, in recent years we adapted this easy but effective read aloud format to meet the needs of preschoolers. What makes these read alouds so effective is the combination of learning activities that are engaging, rigorous, and yes – fun!
Here is what you will find in each of our ready to teach Halloween read alouds for the PreK classroom:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Comprehension questions with answer key
- Response to text worksheets
- Graphic Organizers
- Writing pages
- Craftivity template
- Retelling Puppets
Each of these Halloween themed PreK learning activities is designed to meet young readers where they are while helping them continue to develop their literacy skills. Moreover, they can be taught as printables or digital lessons depending on your teaching preference.
In addition to choosing if you want to use these activities like Halloween printable worksheets or explore them digitally, you can also choose how long it takes you to explore each book. We have provided you with enough activities to cover anywhere from 3 to 5 days.
Therefore, you could cover one book a week, or pick your favorites to explore over a longer period of time. You could even extend this read aloud bundle into the first week of November with the book, Runaway Pumpkin.
To help you see how our favorite PreK Halloween books may fit into your classroom, take a peek at a summary of each book below.
Trick or Treat Crankenstein PreK Read Aloud
If you haven’t read Trick or Treat Crankenstein by Samantha Berger, this is a charming tale about a little monster known as Crankenstein. A dilemma is presented at the beginning of the book as readers wonder if Crankenstein’s grumpiness and reluctance to participate in the festivities will ruin the fun of Halloween.
While your young readers may think his grumpiness will prevail, many may also anticipate that the magic of Halloween will be able to transform this grumpy character into a giddy trick-or-treater! Letting your kids discover the outcome will be part of the joy of reading this halloween book with your preschoolers
Creepy Carrots PreK Read Aloud
The main character of the book Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds is the imaginative young rabbit, Jasper. One of Jasper’s favorite things to do is eat carrots from Crackenhopper Field.
However, his love of munching on carrots in Crackenhopper Field is disrupted one day when Jasper becomes convinced that the carrots are following him. This quickly turns his favorite food into a creepy creature that has Jasper spooked.
This is a wonderful halloween book that is funny, yet provides just the right amount of of spookiness for little kids.
Gustavo the Shy Ghost PreK Read Aloud
Another favorite book for this spooky season is Gustavo the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago. However, while the main character in this book is a ghost, he is anything but spooky. Instead, Gustavo is a quiet and shy ghost.
Although Gustavo is quiet and shy, all he wants is to have friends. So, despite his timid personality, Gustavo decides that he is going to overcome his shyness and make a real friend by Halloween.
This book is truly one of the best for not only teaching young PreK students about friendship but also that they don’t have to change to make friends. Because, despite Gustavo needing to move past some of his shyness in the end he makes friends for just being himself.
Runaway Pumpkin PreK Read Aloud
Our final selection for the best Halloween books for preschoolers is Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis. In this fast-paced children’s book, the readers take part in a high-spirited autumn adventure.
The adventure begins as a family sets out to find the perfect pumpkin for their upcoming pumpkin-carving contest. However, when they finally discover the ideal pumpkin, it has plans of its own. As soon as the perfect pumpkin breaks free from the pumpkin patch, your kids will be on the edge of the reading carpet as they follow the enormous pumpkin on its wild downhill escapade creating chaos throughout the town.
As mentioned earlier, while this delightful and humorous read celebrates the joy of the Halloween season it can encompass the entire fun of fall. Therefore, if you run out of time to read this during October you can easily kick off November with this enchanting story.
PreK Holiday Themed Read Alouds
Whether you choose to read all four of these amazing Halloween books, you and your students are in for some amazing treats all season long. Moreover, if you love engaging your students in the holidays through storytelling we have several other read alouds to keep the fun going.