Are you ready for some creepy fun in your classroom? This list of 20 not-too-spooky Halloween read alouds will have your kids laughing and learning! I've put together my list of favorite October books with engaging lessons to help you in your planning this month!
1. Bone Soup
Bone Soup is one of my favorite books to read in October! In this story, Finnegan travels from town to town in search of a meal. Watch how he tricks the townspeople into giving him all the ingredients to make his favorite – bone soup! We use this as an introduction to some creative writing as the kids make their own spooky soup! Check out the complete lesson here.
2. The Pumpkin Book
Another October favorite is The Pumpkin Book by one of my favorite children's authors. Gail Gibbons is a master at writing non-fiction stories that are easy for young children to understand. Your students will learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin, different varieties, and all the ways we can use pumpkins! Hop over here to see how we use this book during our pumpkin unit in the fall!
3. Creepy Pair Of Underwear
What’s funnier than underwear to a 6-year-old? Creepy glow in the dark green underwear! Your students will laugh out loud at this not-too-creepy October read aloud, Creepy Pair Of Underwear.
4. At The Old Haunted House
Each year, near the end of October I read this book to my students and transform my classroom into a not-too-spooky haunted house. I set up stations to represent the different rooms with math and literacy activities. We read this book to set the stage and then the children travel from station to station. They do math and literacy activities like measuring monsters, graphing the ingredients in witches brew, and solving a monster mystery message. Head over here to see everything we do on this fun day!
5. Snowmen At Halloween
I love this adorable series of snowmen books and this one doesn’t disappoint! Just what do snowmen do during an early snowfall near Halloween? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
6. Ten Timid Ghosts
Ten Timid Ghosts is a great little counting book and perfect for beginning readers. Add this to your math read alouds for October!
7. Room On the Broom
In this adorable Halloween read aloud, the witch and her cat are happily flying through the air when suddenly she loses her had and wand! Luckily some little animals help her out and of course, there’s room on the broom for them too! Check out how we use this book for a creative writing lesson here.
8. The Little Shop Of Monsters
This is a great book to use when you want to do some creative Halloween writing with your kids! What monster would you buy at The Little Shop Of Monsters? Check out how we adopt a monster pet of our very own, make a cute craft, and our monster stories here.
9. Boo…..And I Mean it!
We read a chapter a day of this adorable Junie B. Jones story, Boo And I Mean It!, in October. My students love sitting and listening to a story each day after recess and this Halloween read aloud is one of their favorites!
10. The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything
If you’re looking for a great story to use for teaching kids about story elements including characters, setting, and plot….this is the one! The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything is perfect for your Halloween read alouds! It's a great book for teaching onomonopia with words like “CLOMP, CLOMP”, “WIGGLE, WIGGLE” and “SHAKE, SHAKE”.
11. Pumpkin, Pumpkin
I love this book because of the beautiful watercolor pictures. Pumpkin, Pumpkin is the story of Jamie who watches his pumpkin grow from a seed to a pumpkin. It's the perfect story for teaching the life cycle of a pumpkin. Head over here to see our pumpkin unit.
12. The Scariest Book Ever
Beware! You're about to read The Scariest Book Ever! At least that's what the little ghost thinks. Each turn of the page leads to you think something very scary will be next….only to find it's just a little bunny in the woods or friends picking pumpkins. Your students will love the suspense in this not-too-scary Halloween read aloud.
13. Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins
Are you looking for a great math read-aloud for October? This is the book! Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins teaching kids about doubling numbers in a fun and entertaining story.
14. The Roll-Away Pumpkin
Looking for a great read aloud for teaching story elements? The Roll Away Pumpkin is perfect for teaching students about characters, setting, and plot!
15. Silly Haunted House
Every child loves a pop-up book and I can't resist either! Your students will love the bright colorful illustrations as they explore this silly haunted house!
16. Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie
If you're doing a pumpkin unit this fall, add Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie to your list! It's the perfect book for teaching students the life cycle of a pumpkin!
17. How Many Seeds In A Pumpkin?
How Many Seeds In A Pumpkin is the best book to read during your pumpkin unit! It shows Mr. Tiffin and his class exploring pumpkins and your class will want to do all the same activities. Comparing pumpkins, counting seeds, and skip counting! You'll love this book!
18. Pumpkin Jack
What do you do with your classroom pumpkin after Halloween? Throw it out, right? Don't let the opportunity escape to use this as a science experiment as you watch your pumpkin decompose and enrich the soil for next year's pumpkins! Pumpkin Jack is a great book for showing students the life cycle of a pumpkin.
19. Splat The Cat And The Pumpkin Picking Plan
Everybody loves Splat The Cat and your students will love following along as Splat picks the perfect pumpkin!
20. Horrible Harry At Halloween
The Horrible Harry books are another great series of chapter books to read to your students. Your kids will love listening to his adventures in Horrible Harry At Halloween.
Looking for more October lesson ideas? Take a look at these posts:
Save these October read aloud ideas for later!
Take a minute to save these tips to your October classroom Pinterest board so you can remember them later!
