Halloween 2024 Kids’ Reading List

As Seen on CTV Your Morning

Fall is the perfect time to get cozy with a Halloween book. Whether you prefer silly to scary, there’s a read for you! here are eight new Canadian titles that promise some tricks and lots of treats.

Watch the segment below or here.

Three Picture Books for Ages 3-7

Mummy & Me is one of my favourite kind of picture books, one that presents an everyday, slice of life kid experience dressed up for Halloween. In this case, we have a night in the life of a ‘wee wolf’ and its ‘mummy.’ This parent-child relationship has its ups and downs, with the wolf possessing very hectic energy to a seemingly frazzled mummy, but the wee wolf always feels loved. Broom for Two is about a young witch preparing for her first flying test, and all the hurdles she encounters on the way. There is a gentle message about persistence and things happening in their own time, as well as a fun witchy adventure. Into the Goblin Market (by yours truly) is not specifically a Halloween title, but has a slightly darker, gothic vibe suitable for the season. This adventure story about two sisters who venture into a dangerous goblin market is an ode to Christina Rossetti’s classic poem Goblin Market and shares many similarities, with a major difference being that the goblins in this tale represent villains from other fairytales and classic children’s literature. See if you and your kids can spot them all!

Ages 5-10

Scaredy Squirrel and Halloween go together like a witch and a broom, or trick and treat…you get the idea. Halloween is the perfect holiday for our anxious protagonist to work out fears about strangers, candy, and the potentially scary bits of Halloween. In Scaredy Squirrel: Scared Silly, Scaredy finds the perfect way to engage with this minefield of a holiday with the support of his friends and a lot of giggles along the way.

Ages 9-12

Taxi Ghost is a charming middle grade graphic novel featuring a young medium, just coming into her powers, and the ghosts in her Montreal neighbourhood, who are eager for her help. Despite her grandmother’s warnings not to get involved with the spirit world, Adele gets involved in a mystery involving a dangerous ancient spirit and a group of rogue ghosts hoping to stop a local property developer. Misadventures in Ghost Hunting has a similar set-up, featuring a young medium coming into her powers, but the ghosts in this story are either trying to help Emma uncover the secrets (and possible curses) at the heart of her family history, or drag her down into the underworld. With lots of characters, plot twists, and elements of Chinese mythology and culture, this is a meaty read for kids to sink their teeth into. The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents is a classic boarding school story with a magical twist. The Last Hope School is where all the kids who have been kicked out of other magical schools end up. But instead of it being a punitive experience, it's a place where all the misfits find friendship, support, and a place to be themselves, so when the school is threatened they band together to rescue it. This was a cozy, charming read with great series potential.

Teen

The Unfinished is a YA horror novel haunted by a mysterious figure known as The Ragged Man and an ominous black pond that is hungry for souls. Avery stumbles upon the pond on a run and is subsequently plagued by nightmares and bad feelings. When people in her small town start to disappear, she knows she can’t ignore it any longer. Avery is a Mohawk person who doesn't feel very connected with her culture, and it is through forging a connection with her Mokawk culture and elders that she finds a potential solution. Teens looking for a good thrill will love the atmosphere of The Unfinished.