Reading and Writing

Try to find some of these spooky titles:

13 Ghosts of Halloween, by Robin Muller and illustrated by Patricia Storms, Scholastic Canada Ltd., 2007 – Ten children and three animals visit the Halloween Fun House in this Twelve Days of Christmas remake.

Dem Bones, by Bob Barner, Scholastic Inc., 1996 – While, not really a Halloween book, this one has great skeleton illustrations throughout with not only the words of the classic African American spiritual song, but also interesting facts about each bone or set of bones. We love to sing this book in our family.

Fright Night Flight, by Laura Krauss Melmed and illustrated by Henry Cole, Scholastic Inc., 2002 – A witch on a “super jet-fuelled broom” goes out to gather her monster friends for a flight to your neighbourhood to trick or treat.

I like Pumpkins, by Jerry Smath, Cartwheel Books, 2003 – This rhyming book celebrates pumpkins big and small and all their uses.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, by Charles M. Schulz, Little Simon, 2001 – Halloween wouldn’t be complete without reading the classic tale of Charlie Brown’s friend Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin in the most sincere pumpkin patch.

J is for Jack-O’-Lantern: A Halloween Alphabet, written by Denise Brennan-Nelson and illustrated by Donald Wu, Sleeping Bear Press, 2009 – This alphabet book looks at many different aspects of Halloween (A is for Autumn, B is for Boo, C is for Costume...) and also has more historical information on the side of each page but also including recipe and craft ideas.

The Night Before Halloween, by Natasha Wing, and illustrated by Cynthia Fisher, Scholastic Inc., 1999 – Count Dracula, mummies, Frankenstein’s bride, among others, prepare for Halloween in this book that follows the rhyming style of The Night Before Christmas.

Scary, Scary Halloween, by Eve Bunting and pictures by Jan Brett, Clarion Books, 1986 – A mother Cat and her kittens hidden under a doorstep wonder over the costumed children trick or treating.

The Spookiest Halloween Ever!, by Teddy Slater and illustrated by Ethan Long, Scholastic Inc., 2006 – Ghosts in this rhyming story host a Halloween party but are shocked when one of them reveals that she’s not a ghost but a little girl in the end.

Spooky Hour, by Tony Mitton and illustrated by Parker-Rees, scholastic Inc., 2003 – This rhyming counting book about spooky creatures counts backwards from midnight to one.

BOOKS

Halloween

How to encourage your child to write:

Choose the level of your child:
Toddler/Preschool – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and have your child draw a picture of the answer.

Preschool/Kindergarten – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and write the answer down for him/her leaving one word for him/her to write out himself/herself with your help. You could also encourage him/her to draw a picture as well.

Early Grade School – have your child either write out the answer himself/herself (encourage phonetic spelling) without your help, or offer to help with spelling each word out loud one word at a time.

Grade School – have your child write a sentence or two on his/her own and then read over and discuss the response. (You decide whether to correct the spelling or not)

Older Child – have your child write a longer response (paragraph).

As A Challenge – instead of a question ask your older child to write a story or poem about Halloween.

WRITING

JOURNALING QUESTION PROMPT:

Write out one or more of the following questions in your Family Theme Day Scrapbook or on a piece of paper to glue in your scrapbook:

What is your favourite thing about Halloween? What are you going to dress up as for Halloween this year? What would the scariest jack-o-lantern look like? Describe the best Halloween party ever?

Go to the library to find Halloween books or make a Halloween box of books at home to take out each year!