Top Halloween Read-Alouds for Elementary Classrooms

The month of October is filled with lots of fun themed lessons and activities. There are many holidays and events to celebrate throughout the month. 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. After reading through this blog post about Halloween books, make sure to also load up on November read-alouds, too!

Each of the Halloween read-aloud links that you’ll find below are all Amazon affiliate links.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #1

Snowmen at Halloween by Caralyn Buehner

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.

Why you’ll like it: part of a series, rhyming, illustrations that can tell more story than the text, fall memories

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #2

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum

Synopsis: The next Halloween read-aloud for an elementary classroom 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.

Why you’ll like it: great photographs, engaging nonfiction

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything Halloween read aloud.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #3

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

Synopsis: This book is such a 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!

Why you’ll like it: repeated words and phrases for student participation, an interactive story where students can get physical

From Seed to Pumpkin Halloween read aloud.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #4

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

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!

Why you’ll like it: descriptive, detailed illustrations, kid-friendly

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin Halloween read aloud.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #5

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano

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

Why you’ll like it: great message, student-favorite, rhyming lines

The Pumpkin Book Halloween read aloud.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #6

The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons

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.

Why you’ll like it: informative, detailed images

Big Pumpkin Halloween read aloud.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #7

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

Synopsis: I love this read aloud during the month of October! 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. So, they tell her to move out of the way so they can pull the big pumpkin off the vine. After many failed attempts, a small bat comes along with a great idea. Teamwork!

Why you’ll like it: fantastic illustrations, repeated ideas, and sayings for student participation, good moral of the story

Room on the Broom Halloween read aloud.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #8

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

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. When a bird finds her bow for her, it asks if there is room on her broom, which the witch replies “yes” just like the other animals. 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.

Why you’ll like it: rhyming lines, teamwork, detailed illustrations

Little Boo Halloween read aloud.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #9

Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli

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!

Why you’ll like it: science-based, great moral of the story, bright illustrations

The Roll-Away Pumpkin Halloween read aloud.

Favorite Halloween Read-Aloud #10

The Roll-Away Pumpkin by Junia Wonders

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!

Why you’ll like it: repeated phrases and predictive text

It’s the final book in my 10 Favorite Halloween Read-Alouds! See links for purchase below!

And here are some extra Halloween reading resources I think you’ll enjoy…

I hope you appreciated my round of 10 favorite Halloween read-alouds to help make October spooktacular!

Email
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter

You might also like...