A Season of Stories: Fall Book Selections for Kids

If Your Babysitter is a Bruja

by Ana Siqueira (Author) Irena Freitas (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

This bouncy, bilingual picture book is an enchanting, rollicking read-aloud for small ones with big imaginations.

On the night before Halloween, a new babysitter might be more than she appears. If she wears a black sombrero and cackles like a crow, she might just be a bruja! One little girl is determined not to fall victim to an evil witch or her cats. She knows bath time is really the bruja’s way of putting her in a boiling cauldron, and the only way to keep her at bay is with a magic potion – or is it?

Harry and the Haunted House

by Chris Robertson (Author) Chris Robertson (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

Something spooky is happening at Harry’s house! Chris Robertson has created a fun new picture book featuring a spooky, not scary, haunted house.

Harry knows there’s something special going on for Halloween in his home. Is it creepy? Is it kooky? Watch out, Harry! This fun Halloween-themed adventure is sure to get kids laughing and interacting with Harry as he tries to discover the secret to the spooky goings-on.

It’s Diwali! 

by Kabir Sehgal (Author) Archana Sreenivasan (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

Count along in celebration of Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, in this luminous picture book from bestselling mother-son duo Surishtha and Kabir Sehgal.

Count up to ten and back down again to the tune of “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” while learning about the traditions that make Diwali a fun-filled festival! Celebrated during autumn harvest, Diwali symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. From sweet treats to intricate henna designs to exciting firework displays, kids will delight in this vibrant glimpse into the Festival of Lights.

Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow (A Mother Bruce Book)           

by Ryan T Higgins (Author)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Series: Mother Bruce

Celebrate all things scary with #1 New York Times best-selling author Ryan T. Higgins’s beloved Mother Bruce.

Bruce is a bear who does not like holidays, and he really doesn’t like Halloween. His family of mice and geese decides the only way to get Bruce excited about Halloween is to tell a scary story.

But their campfire tale takes a turn when a ghostly visitor appears. Will Bruce get in the Halloween spirit? Or will the Halloween spirit get Bruce?

Halloween Traditions and Celebrations

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Series: Traditions & Celebrations

Halloween is a holiday that features all things creepy and scary! Also known as All Hallows’ Eve, people enjoy decorating their homes with jack-o’-lanterns, spider webs, skeletons and other creepy items. Many kids love to dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating for candy. Some people enjoy watching scary movies. Discover how this holiday began and the spooky ways people have fun with it.

Harvest Days (World of Celebrations) 

by Kate Depalma (Author) Martina Peluso (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Series: World of Celebrations

Explore harvest festivals from around the globe!

Lyrical, rhyming text and lush, detailed artwork from Italian artist Martina Peluso immerse young readers in some of the most ancient traditions in the world. Nine pages of rich, educational endnotes dive deep with more information about the 12 cultures explored in the book and invite young readers to ask questions about food and the labor that produces it.

Monsters Growling in the Background

by Various (Author)

Reading Level: 4th – 5th Grade

This collection of classic and contemporary poems will send shivers up and down the spine of any reader brave enough to open the book.  Collection of horror and Halloween-themed poems

The Bellwoods Game

by Celia Krampien (Author) Celia Krampien (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th – 5th Grade

Perfect for fans of Small Spaces and Doll Bones, this spooky, highly illustrated middle grade novel follows a girl who hopes to fix her outcast status through a game in the haunted woods, only to discover that some legends shouldn’t be played with.

Everyone knows Fall Hollow is haunted. It has been ever since Abigail Snook went into the woods many years ago, never to be seen again. Since then, it’s tradition for the sixth graders at Beckett Elementary to play the Bellwoods Game on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures the players first, the spirit is let loose to wreak havoc on Fall Hollow–or so the story goes. Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game and each other is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.

Winnie Zeng Vanquishes A King (Winnie Zeng, 2)

by Katie Zhao (Author)

Reading Level: 4th – 5th Grade

Series: Winnie Zeng

With chaos on the rise, one girl stands in the face of all evil . . . and we’re not talking about homework! The action-packed sequel to the epic fantasy series inspired by Chinese mythology.

“A hilarious tussle between homework, family, and heroism.” –Kwame Mbalia, #1 New York Times bestselling author.

As shamans, Winnie Zeng and her archnemesis, David Zuo, have accepted their roles in guarding the world from evil spirits. But with Halloween around the corner, the balance between realms grows fragile–and so yet another shaman is assigned to help Winnie and David protect the town of Groton, Michigan. The catch? The new shaman is just the worst. Not only is she way too perfect–she also has an ego to match and thinks she’s the best thing that’s happened to Groton since Winnie’s red bean brownies. Plus, she’s confident she can save the world all on her own. With evil spirits growing in number, Winnie and David find themselves in quite a pickle. While the newest shaman isn’t convinced there’s a storm brewing, this town is going to need all three of them on the same team . . . or there might not be a town left to defend.