Top Ten Tuesday – Halloween Picture Books

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the bookishly inclined team over at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s theme is a Halloween-freebie, so I’ve decided to share ten of my favourite picture books for Halloween picture books!

Go Away Big Green Monster – A perfect monster book for your littlest patrons. Even timid children will enjoy shouting out “go away!” as you disassemble the big green monster.

Click Clack Boo – A Tricky Treat – Those crazy farm animals from Click Clack Moo are back, and this time they’re planning a sneaky surprise for Halloween-hating Farmer Brown.

Creepy Carrots – Jasper Rabbit loves carrots. He eats them all day every day. But what happens when the carrots have had enough…..?

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? – Fall is all about pumpkins, and this great picture book, with its diverse cast of characters, introduces STEM themes in a fun fall way.

Pumpkin Trouble – Trust Jan Thomas to create a silly, simple pumpkin story that will have kids in stitches!

Where’s My Mummy? – This little baby mummy loves playing hide-and-seek, but who will comfort baby mummy when the deep dark woods spook him? Mommy mummy, of course!

Ghosts in the House! – I love Kazuno Kohara’s minimalist illustrations in this sweet and spooky story of a little girl and her haunted house.

Mouse’s First Halloween – A sweet, not-scary story perfect for the littlest ghouls and goblins.

Pumpkin Eye – A poetic Halloween celebration that’s a little bit spooky, but not too scary.

Peek-A-Boooo! – A fun lift-the-flap book that’s perfect for babies and toddlers.

Have a spooktacular Halloween, everyone!

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Five Finds – Fathers in Picture Books

Picture books celebrating the bonds of love between children and their mothers are easy to find, but picture books featuring children and their fathers can be a bit trickier to locate. Here are a few picture books I found just in our branch, when I helped a patron find books that her partner could share with their children. We tried to find books that weren’t just about fathers, but which simply featured children and their fathers interacting as part of the story.

How To Cheer Up Dad is one of my favourite new picture books, I just love the illustrations, and the way it perfectly captures the state of loving exasperation that is parenthood.

1. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt / Michael Rosen

Brave bear hunters go through grass, a river, mud, and other obstacles before the inevitable encounter with the bear forces a headlong retreat.

Note: This book is available in several different languages.

2. Mouse’s First Snow / Lauren Thompson

A mouse and its father enjoy playing in the snow.

3. How To Cheer Up Dad / Fred Koehler

A young elephant sees his dad is in a bad mood and tries to cheer him up, not realizing his own mischief caused the bad mood in the first place.

4. There Once Was a Dog / Adelia Carvahlo

When Daddy doesn’t know “the dog story” that his child desperately wants to hear, he tries to satisfy his child with a story about every other animal–a lion, a pig, a hen, a rat, and more–until inspiration strikes!

5. Hide and Squeak / Heather Vogel Frederick

A mouse baby leads his father on a merry game of hide-and-squeak at bedtime.