The first post in the Not So Montessori series is about Little Guy’s favorite Halloween books. Halloween is such a fun time of year, but finding toddler appropriate Montessori content about the holiday is challenging, to say the least. I’m certain that content on All Hallow’s Eve and Samhain will be engaging and appropriate once he’s in that 6-9 year old age range, but at nearly 3 years old, a unit like that would serve my Instagram account more than it would serve him, and ultimately my son is my target audience, not the Insta-sori world.

In the spirit of Halloween, and to prepare him for his very first year trick-or-treating, we’re getting spooky with a few excellent (and not at all Montessori) Halloween books for toddlers.

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10 Busy Brooms, by Carole Gerber, is by far Little Guy’s favorite Halloween book, and probably one of his top five favorite books in general. The illustrations are adorable, the rhymes are sweet, and it’s a great way to practice counting. Also, there’s a tiny door in each scene, which can be a lot of fun to find! I got this for him for his first Halloween, and he has always loved it.

• Skills: Counting, Rhyming, Rhythm, Colors, Attention to detail

• Age: 0-5

B is for Boo, by Greg Paprocki, is a lovely little alphabet book with retro-style illustrations. It’s a great way to introduce some Halloween imagery without necessarily going in the whole story behind everything. I love that nothing about this book is scary at all, making it very appropriate for my sensitive toddler!

• Skills: Alphabet, Culture

• Age: 0-5

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween, by Alice Schertle, is a delight. The rhyme scheme and rhythm are consistent and easy to follow, and who doesn’t love a nice lift-the-flap book? It very gently introduces the concept of costumes, which I feel is very important. Little Guy gets uncomfortable with people in costumes because it’s not entirely clear who they are underneath, so this is a great way to address that fear.

• Skills: Rhyming, Rhythm, Fine Motor

• Age: 1-5

Pick a Pumpkin, by Patricia Toht, is a new favorite this year. It follows a family as they pick pumpkins from a patch and carve them into Jack o’lanterns for Halloween. I love the diversity in this book, as well as the gentle rhymes and sweet story. The illustrations have that same dreamy quality that fond childhood memories have, and they provide a lovely contrast to the sea of cartoonish illustrations in toddler Halloween books.

• Skills: Rhyming, Culture

• Age: 2-7

Corduroy’s Best Halloween Ever, by Don Freeman, is a heartwarming tale of friendship. As Corduroy and his friends prepare for their Halloween party, one of his friends has a serious costume malfunction. Corduroy models kindness, generosity, and friendship by giving his friend his costume, and then he shows creativity and innovation when he comes up with a brand new costume for himself moments before they leave to go trick-or-treating. The illustrations are gentle, the story is simple, and it’s not the least bit spooky. A downside is that this is a little paperback book, so it may not be appropriate for little ones who are prone to tearing pages.

• Skills: Friendship, Culture

• Age: 2-6

• Need a minute? Here’s a read along I found on YouTube!

Llama Llama Trick or Treat, by Anna Dewdney, is perfect for the youngest babies and toddlers, though Mr. Almost 3 still loves it. It’s gentle, it’s sweet, and it’s short. It has the same rhythm and rhyme scheme that all of the other Llama Llama books have, and it’s a nice introduction to Halloween.

• Skills: Rhyming, Rhythm, Culture

• Age: 0-3

Eek! Halloween, by Sandra Boynton, is very cute, but I don’t know that it adds the same kind of value to my son’s bookshelf that the others do. If anything, he seems very sensitive to how nervous the chickens are, and is almost a little afraid when I read it to him when he asks for it. Again, it’s a cute book, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for a sensitive child or over any other book on this list.

• Skills: Culture

• Age: 1-3