the most delicious night of the year
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Everything about Halloween is delicious! Marking the turning of the seasonal wheel into darkness and cold, Halloween is a celebration of mystery and wonder that children, and adults alike, love. Intuitively we know that something is special and different Halloween Eve - a time when the veils between worlds thin and our past ancestors share the night. As we travel with our children door-to-door asking for treats or revel in a Halloween party, we are participating in thousand year old traditions that connect us in time with those people who lived in rhythm with Nature and the changing seasons. We are participating in ritual and in doing so, joining in the wonderous and mythological.
Halloween is a welcome moment in time for acknowledging the spooky tricksters who haunt our dreams and enliven folklore and fairy tales with angst and fright. Witches, ghosts, and monsters of all kinds dance and parade both within and outside our imaginations, releasing fears and inhibitions that have been pent up within our minds and souls. Reading children's books about Halloween characters and subjects helps little ones give names to inherent fears and to enjoy the fun of the holiday.
Children love to be scared just a little - we all do. The Halloween books listed below are not about terror but about excitement, suspense, joy and curiosity. Children will anxiously turn pages, cuddle warm and close, and listen with open-hearted intent as you guide them through the natural and supernatural thrills and marvels of Halloween. Enjoy!
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The Witch's Children
by Ursula Jones
illustrated by Russell Ayto
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Teacher Articles and Information
Halloween: celebrating the seasonal descent into darkness
The Ancient Celts: An Introduction to Ancient Celtic Spiritual, Psychological and Eco-Religious Belief Systems and Their Manifestation in the Legends of the Holy Grail
Pumpkin Patches and More!
Authors
Adrienne Adams
Eve Bunting
Robert Bright
Patricia Coombs
Dorothea Lachner and Christa Unzner
Jimmy Pickering
Kathy Ross Halloween Crafts
Alvin Schwartz
Steven Simmons and Cyd Moore
Ghost Stories
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams, illus by Megan Lloyd
Georgie by Robert Bright
Mrs. McMurphy's Pumpkin by Rick Walton, illus by Delana Bettoli
The Tailypo: A Ghost Story by Joanna Galdone,illus by Paul Galdone
The Teeny Tiny Woman: An Old English Ghost Tale retold and illustrated by Barbara Seuling
Kate Culhane: A Ghost Story by Michael Hague
The Boy And The Ghost by Robert D. San Souci (Author), J. Brian Pinkney (Illustrator) 
Little Orphant Annie by James Whicomb Riley ; illustrated by Diane Stanley
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, illustrated and adapted by Robert Van Nutt 
The Bake Shop Ghost by Jacqueline K. Ogburn, illus by Marjorie Priceman
A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown
In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories retold by Alvin Schwartz, illus by Dirk Zimmer
Sweet Halloween Fun
Pumpkin Cat by Ann Turner, illus by Amy June Bates
Moonlight: The Halloween Cat by Cynthia Rylant, illus by Melissa Sweet
Halloween Night by Elizabeth Hatch, illus by Jimmy Pickering
Mrs. McMurphy's Pumpkin by Rick Walton, illus by Delana Bettoli
Picnic at Mudsock Meadow by Patricia Polacco
Maurice Sendak's Little Bear: Little Bear's Scary Night (Maurice Sendak's Little Bear) by Elsie Homeland Minarik, illus by David Wenzel
On Halloween Night by Ferida Wolff and Dolores Kozielski
Halloween Poetry and Rhyme
Halloween by Harry Behn, illustrated by Greg Couch
hist whist by e.e. cummings, illus by Deborah Kogan Ray 
Witch Poems by Daisy Wallace (Editor), illus by Trina Schart Hyman 
Wild Witches' Ball by Jack Prelutsky, illus by Kelly Asbury
The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight: More Poems to Trouble Your Sleep by Jack Prelutsky ; illustrated by Arnold Lobel
Monster Goose by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Jack E. Davis
Scared Silly!: A Halloween Book for the Brave by Marc Brown and Robert Cole
Halloween Shows
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Madeline's Halloween Spooktacular
Scary Godmother Halloween Spooktakular
Little Witch
Monsters and Wonders
Moondog by Alice Hoffman and Wolfe Martin, illus by Yumi Heo
The Barefoot Book of Giants, Ghosts and Goblins: Traditional Tales from Around the World retold by John Matthews, illus by Giovanni Manna
Beast by Susan Meddaugh
The Dark Way: Stories from the Spirit World by Virginia Hamilton, illus by Lambert Davis
Ravena (the little Banshee) by Olivier Dunrea
Dracula's Cat by Jan Wahl, illus by Kay Chorao
The House That Drac Built written by Judy Sierra ; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
Scary Fright, Are You All Right? by Scott Gibala-Broxholm
Jitterbug Jam: A Monster's Tale by Barbara Jean Hicks, illus by Alexis Deacon
The Lost Boy and the Monster by Craig Kee Strete, illus by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
god bless the gargoyles story and paintings by Dav Pilkey
Eric Carle's Dragons, Dragons & other creatures that never were; compiled by Laura Whipple
Skeltons and Mummies - Oh My!
Skelly the Skeleton Girl written and illustrated by Jimmy Pickering
The Dancing Skeleton by Cynthia De felice (Author), Robert Andrew Parker (Illustrator)
Cinderella Skeleton by Robert D. San Souci, illus by David Catrow
Shake Dem Halloween Bones by W. Nikola-Lisa (Author), Mike Reed (Illustrator)
Ten Little Mummies by Philip Yates, illus by G. Brian Karas
Rattlebone Rock by Sylvia Andrews, illus by Jennifer Plecas
Witches
The Witch's Children by Ursula Jones illustrated by Russell Ayto
The Witches' Supermarket by Susan Meddaugh
Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pies written by Mark Kimball Moulton, illustrated by Karen Hillard Crouch Good
Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, illus by S.D. Schindler
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, illus by Axel Scheffler
Alice and Greta by Steven Simmons, illus by Cyd Moore
Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave by Marianna Mayer, illus by Kinuko Y. Craft
Baba Yaga and the Wise Doll a traditional Russian folktale retold by Hiawyn Oram ; illustrated by Ruth Brown.
Meredith the Witch Who Wasn't by Dorothea Lachner, illus by Christa Unzner
The Witch's Children (Book & CD) by Ursula Jones, illus by Russell Ayto
Curse in Reverse by Tom Coppinger, illus by Dirk Zimmer
Hoodwinked by Arthur Howard
Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny: an original African American scare tale by Virginia Hamilton ; engravings by Barry Moser.
The Three Witches Collected by Zora Neale Hurston Adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas Illustrated by Faith Ringold
A Very Brave Witch by Alisin McGhee, Harry Bliss
The Little Green Witch by Barbara B. McGrath
Halloweena by Miriam Glassman, Victoria Roberts
Wizzil by William Steig, illus by Quentin Blake
Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian
A Job for Wittilda by Caralyn Buehner, Mark Buehner
A Woggle of Witches by Adrienne Adams
A Halloween Happening by Adrienne Adams
Dorrie and the Haunted Schoolhouse by Patricia Coombs
The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches by Alice Low, illus by Jane Manning
