Here are 95 books that The Widow's Broom fans have personally recommended if you like
The Widow's Broom.
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The world opened to me in a safe space when I learned to read as a child, and by 6th grade, inspired by Jo March, I hoped to be an author and regularly hauled stacks of books home from the library. I had put aside my dream of writing until my marriage to Mark Buehner. It was his career as an illustrator that opened up a path for me, and together we have created many picture books, including the Snowmen at Night series. I’ve learned that stories are told with pictures as well as words, and beautiful picture books can be savored at any age.
I love reading aloud, and I love read-aloud books that have sounds or actions that the reader and listeners can do as they follow the story. This book is delightfully physical—as you clap, clomp, wiggle, nod, and boo along with the shoes, pants, shirt, top hat, gloves, and pumpkin head that the little old woman meets as she walks home one night. Being followed by clomping shoes or wiggling pant legs might be terrifying, but this little old woman is not afraid of anything, something she proves when all these animate items come knocking at her door. Bravely she offers them a task where they can really be frightening—and the clomping shoes, wiggling pants, shaking shirt, clapping gloves, nodding hat, and boo-crying pumpkin head become the perfect scarecrow in the little old woman’s cornfield. Such a fun book!
“A great purchase for Halloween or any time of year.” —School Library Journal (starred review)
Once upon a time, there was a little old lady who was not afraid of anything! But one autumn night, while walking in the woods, the little old lady heard . . . clomp, clomp, shake, shake, clap, clap.
And the little old lady who was not afraid of anything had the scare of her life! With bouncy refrains and classic art, this timeless Halloween story is perfect for reading aloud.
As a parent, children’s book author, and fan of all things Halloween I have searched the globe for the best of the best when it comes to Halloween books for kids. Ok not really “the globe” but when the bookstore starts stocking the featured shelves with children's Halloween books around mid-August, I can’t resist either browsing or purchasing. These 5 are near and dear to my heart because instead of just a simple bedtime read, they all have something special and a memory attached to them. These are the books that are brought out year after year and still enjoyed by the kids, even when they are probably getting too old for bedtime stories.
An obvious choice, but this is such a great book I couldn’t leave it off.
I am not even sure where to begin with this one. It has rhymes and humor and a great story that is easy to follow. The book also has simple life lessons about friendship and being helpful. The characters are so cute and when reading out loud you can really put everything you’ve got into your witch voice!
Oh, and then with a hungry dragon, how can you go wrong? This one is usually the book that both kicks off and closes down Halloween time at our house and the kids never seem to get tired of it.
How the cat purred and how the witch grinned, As they sat on their broomstick and flew through the wind.
A very funny story of quick wits and friendship, Room on the Broom is another smash hit from the unparalleled picture book partnership of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo.
The witch and her cat fly happily over forests, rivers and mountains on their broomstick until a stormy wind blows away the witch's hat, bow and wand. Luckily, they are retrieved by a dog, a bird and a frog, who are all keen for a ride on…
I love dachshunds! My dachshund Harry has appeared in several of my books including Dozens of Dachshunds; May I Pet Your Dog?; Oodles of Poodles and Doodles (yep, he's in that one, too); and the Ready, Set, Dogs! chapter book series written with Magic School Bus author Joanna Cole. I'm a former early childhood teacher and children's book editor and I've written over 100 books for children.
Oscar, the lone dachshund in the neighborhood, gets teased about his size and shape by the other dogs.
"Weiner dog! Weiner dog!" they shout. His mother's no help. When he's leaving for school, she affectionately calls out for all to hear, "Farewell, my little Vienna sausage!"
For Halloween, Oscar's mother surprises him with a costume—a hot dog bun with mustard. Poor Oscar wanted to look scary but ends up feeling silly. On Halloween night, he's left trailing after the others with an empty treat basket. The tables are turned when a scary monster frightens the bullies and Oscar comes to their rescue.
This simple, well-told story is brought to life with wonderful Dav Pilkey illustrations that make you laugh and tug your heartstrings. It's a great book for any time of year.
From Dav Pilkey, creator of the New York Times bestselling Dog Man and Captain Underpants series, comes Oscar, a little dog with a big bullying problem.
Oscar is a little dog with a big problem -- he gets more tricks than treats because other dogs tease him all the time. But one brave act on Halloween makes Oscar a Grade-A hero, proving that a little wiener can be a real winner!
The world opened to me in a safe space when I learned to read as a child, and by 6th grade, inspired by Jo March, I hoped to be an author and regularly hauled stacks of books home from the library. I had put aside my dream of writing until my marriage to Mark Buehner. It was his career as an illustrator that opened up a path for me, and together we have created many picture books, including the Snowmen at Night series. I’ve learned that stories are told with pictures as well as words, and beautiful picture books can be savored at any age.
It might be unusual to choose an alphabet book intended for babies and toddlers in a selection of Halloween books, but the art in this book and others in this series is worth collecting, even if you don’t have little ones to share the book with. There have been a lot of little ones reading books on my lap over the years, both my own children and now grandchildren, and I’ve learned that there are certain favorites that I might as well keep close at hand rather than shelve in the hallway with the other picture books. A few years ago I stumbled across B Is for Boo, and I loved the illustrations so much that I have collected nearly a dozen more books in Greg Paprocki’s series of alphabet books. The illustration style might best be described as “retro,” and whether readers grew up in the 1960s like…
Introduce your brilliant baby to the ABCs with this illustrated primer about Halloween.
Greg Paprocki’s popular retro-style series of sturdy board book alphabet primers expands to introduce brilliant babies and toddlers to one of the most popular holidays on the calendar: Halloween. Just as other books in this series make learning history fun and engaging for children, this volume will fuel the anticipation of your child’s first Halloween and help to expand their vocabulary in the process.
B Is for Boo: A Halloween Alphabet features a collection of twenty-six illustrations featuring Halloween-themed concepts, including imaginative costumes, oodles of treats, pumpkins…
I am a children’s horror author, editor, and mentor who has been writing and reading about the genre for ten years. I love seeing how my fellow authors take quite terrifying themes and content and creatively develop them into fun and creepy stories suitable for the youngest readers. It is a thrilling responsibility, and I hope we all bring something slightly different to the table for those who love the dark!
I adored this creepy, spooky middle-grade book set in Victorian-time London. It tells the story of 12-year-old Nancy Crumpet and her terrifying adventure with Skelter Tombola, who owns the amazing Scareground.
The descriptions were so powerful that I felt like I was right in the story with Nancy, experiencing the scary magic of the fair. The link between Nancy and Skelter is skillfully revealed, and the chapters kept my heart thumping throughout. I couldn’t put it down!
My love affair with reading began in kindergarten with The Three Little Pigs. Trips to the library introduced me to Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, and Agatha Christie. It didn’t take long for me to realize how much I love reading mysteries. I’ve read thousands of them over the years, mainly traditional and cozy. When I decided to try my hand at writing, I knew right away that I’d be creating stories on the cozy end of the mystery spectrum. I particularly like mysteries set around Halloween. I’m not a horror fan. I prefer less gruesome Halloween tales, especially ones involving old legends and ghosts. These gentler Halloween mysteries are the perfect fit for me.
Paranormal investigators, a ghostly legend, and murder. That, in a nutshell, is what attracted me to this book. While the residents of South Bass Island prepare for Halloween festivities, the Elkhart Ghost Getters arrive in search of footage of the ghost of a prohibition bootlegger named Charlie “Sleepy” Harlow. Harlow was beheaded by rival bootleggers and his ghost is said to appear every Halloween in search of his head. A murder puts a damper on the festivities, causing the League of Literary Ladies to sprint into action. Forced by court order to spend time together in a book club, the three women in the League are now fast friends. I love the ingenuity of the main character as well as how they all work together to solve the murder.
It takes more than a lurid legend to scare off the League of Literary Ladies in the third novel in this charming cozy mystery series...
For Halloween, the Literary Ladies have chosen to read Washington Irving’s spooky classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, with its infamous headless horseman. But South Bass Island has its own headless legend—of a Prohibition bootlegger named Charlie “Sleepy” Harlow. Decapitated by rival rumrunners, Harlow appears once a year in spectral form to search for his noggin.
This October, the Elkhart Ghost Getters (EGG) have returned to the island. The group claims that they have film…
I am a huge fan of Halloween and love decorating my porch to greet our neighborhood kids. This past year I gave away a couple dozen copies of my own picture books along with candy, which was a huge hit. I live in Baltimore with my family, including my silly, spooky kid, and love animals, especially dogs and horses. This past Halloween, my daughter wanted to dress up as a dentist, of all things, so my husband and I went along dressed up as giant teeth. She never got the irony of asking for candy while dressed as a dentist. We’ll have to wait until she is older for that.
I love this book which teaches kids that scary things (like skeletons!) aren’t always as scary as they appear. Rebecca Evans, the author, is a friend of mine and does a lot of volunteer work to help other children’s book writers and illustrators, so I love supporting someone so involved and helpful! When I saw Rebecca read this book at an event, she had an adorable craft where kids could make skeletons out of gluing dry pasta to black paper—activity idea!
Skeletons might seem frightening, but if you look closer, there's nothing much to fear. They can't run fast, they're terrible at hide-and-seek, and they're scared of everything. When a group of trick-or-treaters runs into an actual skeleton on an enchanted Halloween night, they do whatever they can get away. But what does the skeleton really want? What if they're just looking for a friend?
I am a children’s horror author, editor, and mentor who has been writing and reading about the genre for ten years. I love seeing how my fellow authors take quite terrifying themes and content and creatively develop them into fun and creepy stories suitable for the youngest readers. It is a thrilling responsibility, and I hope we all bring something slightly different to the table for those who love the dark!
I was scared to death by this book! It’s aimed at a YA (young adult) audience, so definitely one for ages 14+. I did my Duke of Edinburgh at school, so I fully got involved with this very creepy camping trip where everything went terribly wrong. I remembered the rain and the dark woods all too well…
Tess has written a brilliant blend of thriller and horror here, her second book. The twists and turns are so clever; it is completely, terrifyingly gripping.
The only thing worse than being lost . . . is being found.
Keely planned to keep her head down at her new school - she isn't there to make friends or memories, she just wants to be left alone.
In order to get into college, she is roped into a programme that involves camping in the Welsh wilderness with five over-keen try-hards. Her plan is to keep her head down, keep her mouth shut and get through the next few days.
But Keely is running from something. Something that drove her family out of their home and to this…
I’ve been obsessed with Halloween traditions since before I could finish my own bag of candy. In many ways, those dark and chilly childhood nights of trick or treating are what gave rise to my lifelong love of horror. Inspired by the thrill of staying up late on the one night of the year when the dead can return to earth, I have since delved deep into the ancient history and folklore of All Hallows’ Eve, much of which features prominently in my Book of Shadowsseries. I hope the books on this list help you capture the spooky magic of the season!
In this razor-sharp novella, Halloween is personified in a bloodthirsty creature who haunts the nearly abandoned town of Strang. Fearful of Halloween’s deadly tricks, the remaining residents leave small live offerings at their doorsteps every night at sundown. But once a year on All Hallows’ Eve, Halloween demands a bigger and bloodier sacrifice. Dripping with dreadful atmosphere, Hunt does a masterful job of rendering a story that is both disturbing and surprisingly emotional for such a quick read. Steeped in folklore and ancient traditions, this grim and twisted tale reminds us that the old custom of trick or treating was meant to protect us from evil, and that for all its modern fun and games, Halloween is supposed to be scary.
Strang isn’t the small, quaint town it appears to be. It’s haunted every night by a creature the townsfolk refer to as Halloween. Once the sun sets each day, Halloween emerges to collect its treats: a small, live offering from each household. The residents comply because no one wants to be the target of Halloween’s tricks. But the nightmare of residing in Strang is nothing compared to the yearly ritual Halloween demands of the citizens on All Hallows’ Eve.
Although I was a little scared of Halloween as a kid, I’ve grown to love the silly side of spookiness. Growing up with Pee-Wee’s Playhouse every Saturday morning, I learned that silliness is a superpower. Now, when working on kids books, my ultimate goal is to put work into the world that will delight kids, and won’t make the parents groan and say, “that one again?” Finding the sweet spot of being fun to read, fun to hear, and fun to look at is what I love most about creating kids books. I hope you and your little ghouls and goblins enjoy my spooky board Boooook list!
I read my kiddo many Lesley Patricelli books when she was little and I would have loved to have read Boo! to her during Halloween (and beyond!).
From showing size differences between pumpkins to spreads where reader/listener can choose between jack-o’-lantern faces and costumes, Patricelli simplifies the season of Halloween in such a sweet way. It even addresses that Halloween might feel scary to a young kid – which as a kid who was too scared to trick-or-treat until many years after her friends had started, I truly appreciate.
The inimitable Baby brings a humorous spin to the holidays in a cheerful board book fit for trick-or-treat bags.
It’s almost Halloween! How should Daddy carve the pumpkin? So many expressions to choose from! What should Baby be—a princess or pirate, ballerina or clown? When the jack-o’-lantern’s ready (looking suspiciously like Baby), it’s time for a little ghost to head out in the slightly scary night. But fear turns to excitement as the pumpkin fills up with treats. WOW!
