[Unless noted, all links are affiliate links to Amazon.com.  No Such Thing and The Monstore were received for review from the publishers. The rest we checked out from the public library or come from our personal library. All of them are excellent. Worldcat.org will show your closest library and if they have a particular book you are looking for.] 

No Such Thing by Ella Bailey (links to review)

Ella is sure that missing thing, broken things, and anything unusual happening around her can be explained by something perfectly rational and logical — because there is no such thing as a ghost, right?  Play seek-and-find with the cutest ghosts!

The Monsters’ Monster by Patrick McDonnell

A very sweet and fun book about gratitude, enjoying life, and embracing the unexpected.  It is appropriate for all ages!  The illustrations are beautiful and the content is wonderful and life affirming.  This books is perfect all year round, but especially so for Halloween.

Frankenstein by Rick Walton and Illustrated by Nathan Hale

A brilliant and hilarious parody of the famous picture book Madeleine by Ludwig Bemelmans — Frankenstein is illustrated and written in the same rhythm and rhyme and complete with a similar story as the original Madeleine.  (With the major difference being that Frankenstein loses his head and not his appendix.)  It’s wonderful and funny and was a lot of fun to read to my son over and over again.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda D. Williams and Illustrated by Megan Lloyd

A spooky, (but not-too-spooky) Halloween book about not being afraid and being resourceful.  Plus, there are lots of fun sounds to make — Onomatopoeia adorers, rejoice!

The Teeny-Tiny Woman by Paul Galdone

A classic Halloween story.  This is the first spooky story I ready to my son and he LOVED it.  He would curl up next to me each time I would read it to him.  I always told him that we didn’t have to read it if it scared him, but he would smile and insist that I read it.  “Give me my bone!” was a favorite chant around here last Halloween and lead to lots of giggles.

Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann

This is a beautiful story about a friendship between a dog and a boy.  The dog passes away in the beginning of the story (which will make anyone choke up) but comes to the rescue one Halloween night when needed most.  It’s a very sweet and wonderful story — with a small touch of spooky.  It’s a great book for everyone!  You can read my full review here.

Hampire by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and Illustrated by Howard Fine

Done in rhyme, this story is about the Hampire on the loose and the farm animals are all in a panic.  However, they learn that there is no need to fear the Hampire and they make friends with him in the process.  It’s sweet, it’s fun, and it’s a little scary.

Where’s My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi and Illustrated by John Manders 

A little mummy loses his mom in a game of hide and seek before bedtime.  He goes searching everywhere for her, but can’t find her.  The little mummy runs into various Halloween monsters and while it is at first potentially spooky, everyone turns out to be nice.  The mummy finds his mom and all is well.  My son had me read this book to him so many times — I’ve actually had dreams about this book.  It’s a fun book that’s easy to love.

Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds and Illustrated by Peter Brown 

My whole family loves this book.  Is the bunny going crazy or are carrots actually following him?  An amazingly illustrated book with a great story — this one is another one that’s a pleasure to read over and over (and over!) again.

Asiago by Adam McHeffey

I love everything about Asiago.  The story is sweet, the characters are all wonderful, and this little vampire makes the best of a less-than-ideal situation.  I also love the cheese theme in the names of the vampire characters.  You can read my full review here.

The Monstore by Tara Lazar and Illustrated by James Burks

Holy Mackerel my son loves this book!  We’ve read it a countless number of times.  This book taught my son about the meaning of refunds and exchanges — and of course, that tiaras can be terrifying.  The monsters in this book are amazingly illustrated and very creatively thought up.  The Monstore is a place where Zack goes to find monsters to keep his little sister from entering his room — but the monsters turn out to really like his little sister.  He keeps buying more monsters in the hopes that if he has enough, one of them will eventually scare her.  Doesn’t quite work that way — and in the end, Zack and Grace have so many of their own monsters they are able to open their own Monstore.

Mercy Watson Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo and Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

  While this isn’t technically a picture book, it has a lot of great illustrations and my whole family has greatly enjoyed this book.  The Mercy Watson series is wonderful and hilarious.  Princess in Disguise in particular has made all of us laugh out loud each time we’ve read it.  It’s fun, it’s all things good, and it has led to some great family discussions.  You’ll never be able to have a piece of toast without putting a great deal of butter on it and talking about Mercy Watson after reading this book.

Where Obtained:  All were checked out from the library with the exception of The Monstore and No Such thing, which I received from the publishers.  My family truly loves all of these books and think that you and yours will, too.