Halloween Book Round Up

I LOVE children’s books! As tough as it is for me to sit down and read a book for myself, I love to read books to kids both at home and at school. For a while, reading books was about all C wanted to do! The great thing is… you can embed so many speech and language skills into reading books. Reading the words typically gives a great example for sentence structure and more robust, descriptive and complex sentences than most children uses. Along with that, you can talk about the pictures, ask questions, make predictions, look for letters, talk about rhymes and so much more! Here are a few of our favorites from this season and why we love them. Links are Amazon Affiliate links.

1. Spooky Wheels on the Bus

This little book has been a favorite at home this month! C loves the familiar tune of the song, so he was singing along the first day we had the book! This book is great for toddler-preschool aged children. It introduces counting along with halloween vocabulary without getting too spooky! Several of the pictures give clues about the next critter that will be on the bus, so it is a great book to introduce using clues from pictures to predict what will happen next. Singing helps to encourage early literacy skills and helps to keep the attention of young readers.

2. Little Blue Truck’s Halloween

As a boy mom, I LOVE the Little Blue Truck series. They do a great job teaching friendship and character skills, even to littles. C loved this book last year, and it has become a favorite again this year! The flaps are great for making simple predictions, as are the pictures on the last page. (Which animal do you think is dressed up as a clown?  Or for younger readers, model the clues you see to make the prediction I see a white, fluffy coat on that animal. I predict that it is a sheep because I know that sheep have white, fluffy coats). You can also target simple questions about animal sounds or more complex “why” questions (i.e. Would you want to dress up as a ___? Why or why not? Or Why do you think the sheep chose to dress as a clown?)

3. Pooh’s Halloween Parade

My sister-in-law teaches 1st grade at my school. She found this book and knew it would be perfect for C. He has loved reading it. This was his first introduction to Pooh, so when we see Huggie’s diapers at Target, he walks over and thinks Pooh represents Halloween! This book is sweet for kids who love the characters and those who are new to Pooh. There is a great opportunity for predictions, inferences and problem solving within the story, too! ( How do you think that rock walked into the room? What would you do if something suddenly appeared in our house and you didn’t know where it came from? ) You could also extend the book and have your own Halloween parade with friends, family or neighbors.

4. There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed Some Leaves

This book has been a favorite in my speech room for YEARS! It’s a great book for those who aren’t big Halloween fans. The crazy old lady swallows a plethora of fall items and sneezes up a scarecrow. In my classroom, I also took this opportunity to teach my students how to cover their sneezes. (We all need to stay well this cold and flu season!) This book easily targets simple “what” and “who” questions by talking about the old lady and the items she swallowed. It’s also a great story to practice retelling by sequencing the items that the old lady swallowed. You can make the book interactive by printing out an Old Lady’s head and mouth and putting it on a tissue box or bucket and feeding her the items. Jenna over a Speech Room News has a wonderful bundle you can grab here. If you are also interested in more books or a Halloween take on a story, you can also check out There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!

5. Ten Timid Ghosts

This book was new to me this year. C has been reading it with his babysitter. Although I don’t think C is close to rote counting, he is wanting to imitate the numbers that some of the bigger kids say! It’s so fun to watch him learn through play and the example of the kids just a little more advanced than him! Ten Timid Ghosts is also a great book to introduce counting and make predictions ( Do you think the ghosts will get away? How do you think they will do it?)

6. Pete the Cat: Trick or Pete

Pete the Cat is another of our favorite book series. This book is great, also, because it gives a good guide for trick or treating. For kids with language delays, Autism, or even just first time trick or treaters, this book models how trick or treating will look. Several times, Pete goes to a door, rings the doorbell and receives candy. It would be great to work on having your child say “trick or treat” as Pete comes to each door. This book also gives wonderful opportunities for interaction with the pages through the flaps. The flaps are also a great way to incorporate inferencing or naming objects from picture clues. You can also talk about the preposition behind (That outline looks like a bird. Let’s look behind the flap and see if we are correct!)

What Fall/Halloween books are you and your children loving this fall? Drop me a comment and tell me why you love them! We are always looking to add new books to our collection!