There is something so magical about a newly independent reader. A child is starting to pick his or her own books out from the library. There is something so fun about matching one’s reading to the season! This list of Halloween early chapter books will delight any independent reader. I am very picky about early chapter books, so while essentially every early chapter book series has a Halloween book, I’m only listing the Halloween chapter books here that I have read and enjoyed.
Compared to many of my other book lists, this is a relatively short list of Halloween early chapter books, but that makes it very manageable! The books are generally for kids ages 5-10 (depending on reading level, of course!). For chapter books for kids ages 8-10, that also make excellent family read alouds, check out these fantastic Halloween novels. And for many hundreds more early chapter books for kids ages 5-10 see all of my lists in the archives here.
(Note: Book titles and covers are affiliate links.)
Halloween Chapter Books for Ages 6-10
I made an attempt here to arrange the books from the earliest reading level to the latest. Nate the Great starts us off with a Halloween book that is close to an easy reader and Invisible Inkling easily qualifies as a middle grade book that is great Halloween reading for 8-10 year olds.
Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. This series is perfect for kids on the upper level of easy reader books and who are excited about moving on to books with real chapters. Nate the Great is a classic, reliable series. In this book he helps a friend find her lost cat.
Dragon’s Halloween by Dav Pilkey. Words cannot express how much I love the hysterical misadventures of Dragon. This whole series is a hoot, especially if you like dry, tongue in cheek humor. It’s Halloween and Dragon is going in search of the biggest pumpkin so he can make a super scary jack o’lantern. But all that is left in the pumpkin patch are 6 tiny pumpkins! This is a very easy to read, very early Halloween chapter book that will have kids in stitches.
Mercy Watson: Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo. Porcine wonder Mercy Watson is a seriously crazy pig and of course Halloween with her will be both disastrous and hilarious. The Mercy Watson series is also great fun to read aloud.
Princess Posey and the Monster Stew by Stephanie Greene. There are a number of early chapter book series that have Halloween editions. This Princess Posey edition is quite enjoyable. I found it surprisingly charming and it thoughtfully addressed anxieties over the Halloween scare factor.
Jenny’s Moonlight Adventure by Esther Averill. Jenny and her urban feline friends gather together on Halloween to hear a performance from nose-flutist Madame Butterfly. But, oh no! The nose flute has gone missing. I love the Jenny and the Cat Club series and your kids will enjoy these classic books that easily stand the test of time.
The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson. The chaos-creating band of kids from the classic, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, bring just as much mayhem to Halloween as they did to Christmas.
Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins by Emily Jenkins. I absolutely adore this series set in Brooklyn, and so do my two boys. This is the second book about fourth grader Hank Wolowitz whose invisible pet loves Halloween and decides to take charge of the holiday. Quirky, kooky and lots of crazy hijinks that will have your kids laughing out loud.
If your child has a favorite early chapter book series, whether it be My Weird School or Katie Kazoo or Ready Freddy, check the shelves because there is sure to be a Halloween themed book in the series!
More Halloween Reading:
Diverse Halloween picture books
Halloween picture books with a self-esteem theme
Halloween novels the whole family will love
Jennifer says
October 4, 2012 at 10:00 amI forgot about Neil Gaiman. My 11-year old is not much of a reader, but he does better when I “assign” things for him to complete.
Raising a Happy Child says
October 4, 2012 at 3:51 pmGreat collection. I think my husband read The Graveyard book recently. We have two German chapter books – The Little Witch and The Little Ghost. They are translated to English in Germany and don't seem to be available on Amazon.
PragmaticMom says
October 11, 2012 at 12:48 pmGreat list! Thanks for coming to my blog (I have a post on same topic but with different books). I am sharing your link so readers will have lots of books to choose from!
Momand Kiddo says
October 11, 2012 at 3:13 pmThanks. Kid books are a bit of a passion of mine and I love sharing new books and reading other people's lists to find even more books!
Shirley says
October 15, 2014 at 2:22 amThank you so much for this list. I just picked up a great chapter book about Frankenstein’s son. I cannot wait to read it aloud to my students to help kick start Halloween. Keep up the great work that you do and the wonderful information that you are sharing.
Erica MomandKiddo says
October 15, 2014 at 9:20 amThanks!
Delene Halsey says
October 6, 2017 at 10:22 amThanks for the list. I have several grandkids who are beyond Halloween picture books. This will help in the hunt for Halloween books for older kids. Great job