In this blog post, I’m going to outline ten of my favorite Halloween read alouds for elementary classrooms to use in the last few weeks of October. They are all about pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and other Halloween themed topics. Each of the Halloween read-aloud links that you’ll find below are all Amazon affiliate links.
Snowmen at Halloween
- Snowmen at Halloween by Caralyn Buehner
- Why you’ll like it: part of a series, rhyming, illustrations that can tell more story than the text, fall memories
Synopsis: You’ve heard of Snowmen at Night, but have you seen this new book in the series? I’m loving this book so much. The story begins with two children decorating their snowmen with Halloween decorations since the weather had turned cold early in autumn. The children imagine what the snowmen do at night for Halloween. They imagine things such as a Halloween parade, pumpkin carving, festivals, hay mazes, and other classic fall activities. And although the snowmen melt overnight, they leave the main character a great Halloween message.
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie
- Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum
- Why you’ll like it: great photographs, engaging nonfiction
Synopsis: The next Halloween read-alouds for elementary classrooms is actually an informational text. This National Geographic reader is filled with lots of full-color photographs that show the great diversity of pumpkins. It shows the different sizes, shapes, colors, or purposes of pumpkins. It also explains the life cycle of a pumpkin, showing images of each step, which is a great visual for students to see.
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
- The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
- Why you’ll like it: repeated words and phrases for student participation, an interactive story where students can get physical
Synopsis: This book is such a Halloween read alouds classic. I remember reading it seven times in one week to my very first kindergarten class about ten years ago. They fell in love with it and begged to hear it daily! A little old lady walks through the woods on a fall evening. Along her walk, she encounters things that would make many people scared, but she faces each obstacle with no fear and goes along on her way. Finally, the little old lady got a bit scared and began to run away from all of these things following her. The story ends with a clever fall-themed solution that the kids love!
From Seed to Pumpkin
- From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer
- Why you’ll like it: descriptive, detailed illustrations, kid-friendly
Synopsis: Here is another nonfiction text about the pumpkin life cycle. The book features illustrated pictures instead of photographs like the story we discussed a few snippets ago. This science reader is great and engaging with fantastic student-friendly vocabulary. Each step in the pumpkin life cycle is illustrated with a detailed picture. It even includes an experiment and a recipe at the end!
The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin
- The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano
- Why you’ll like it: great message, student-favorite, rhyming lines
Synopsis: The story begins with a pumpkin who feels out of place because he isn’t smooth like his other pumpkin friends. He’s a square. When a storm comes through on the day before Halloween, Spookley must come up with a bright solution to help his round pumpkin friends who are rolling away. The farmer decides to use Spookley’s seed to grow next year’s pumpkin patch. All the pumpkins turn out different shapes, sizes, and colors. It’s an adorable way to teach students not to judge a book by its cover
Favorite Halloween Read Alouds: The Pumpkin Book
- The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons
- Why you’ll like it: informative, detailed images
Synopsis: Any nonfiction Gail Gibbons book is one that I’ll definitely pick up for that science topic. This book is no exception. There are detailed images for each of the pumpkin life cycle steps, which helps students understand each step a bit better. She even includes a little bit of background information on Halloween, as well. On one of the pages, there’s a wonderful nonfiction image. She includes a step by step illustration of how to carve a pumpkin within the story.
Big Pumpkin
- Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman
- Why you’ll like it: fantastic illustrations, repeated ideas, and sayings for student participation, good moral of the story
Synopsis: I love this book as a Halloween read alouds option! It is a great story to use when teaching students about the morals of the story or central messages. A witch wants to make a pumpkin pie, so she plants a pumpkin seed, weeds, and waters it. When the pumpkin grows and grows, it becomes so big that she can’t pull it off the vine by herself. Each character that comes along in the story thinks they are stronger and more capable than the witch. After many failed attempts, a small bat comes along with a great idea. Teamwork!
Room on the Broom
- Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
- Why you’ll like it: rhyming lines, teamwork, detailed illustrations
Synopsis: A witch is flying around on her broom with her cat when her hat falls off to the ground. A dog finds her hat and brings it to her, asking if there is any room on the broom for him, too. Unfortunately, the stormy wind keeps blowing, and this time, her bow flew away. The story repeats this way until the broom gets too loaded down with people/animals. It cracks and the witch now has to face a mean dragon alone. The rest of the animals band together to figure out how to save the witch and remake the new broom.
Little Boo
- Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli
- Why you’ll like it: science-based, great moral of the story, bright illustrations
Synopsis: The story begins with a small seed who can’t stop trying to scare everything around him, such as worms and leaves. The wind tells him to be patient because it isn’t time for him to be scary yet. This fictional story about a little seed which continues to try to scare everything around it actually teaches the students about the pumpkin life cycle. It takes the reader through each step of the life cycle. Finally, when the pumpkin life cycle has ended, he turns into a jack-o-lantern and can scare people!
The Roll-Away Pumpkin
- The Roll-Away Pumpkin by Junia Wonders
- Why you’ll like it: repeated phrases and predictive text
Synopsis: And for our last Halloween read-aloud for elementary classrooms, we have a story about a roll-away pumpkin. As Marla Little’s pumpkin rolls down the hill, she asks the townspeople to help her catch her roll-away pumpkin. The illustrations of each shop/market-person is a great way to show students different people in a town. There is a repeated phrase throughout the story, which can help your kids get engaged with the text. Finally, a lady catches the pumpkin in a large cauldron and the town has pumpkin soup!
And here are 2 Halloween reading resources to add to your classroom:
HALLOWEEN READING PASSAGES
FALL TEXT FEATURES (WITH HALLOWEEN TOPICS)
I hope you appreciated my round of 10 favorite Halloween read-alouds to help make October spooktacular!
