This time of year is perfect for hunting out ghostly books to share to showcase spellings, engaging spooky words and inspire ghostly writing. They are an invaluable resource to captivate and engage your students. When we work with festivals and celebrations that kids love, we help keep engagement on a high. Halloween, with its spooky charm and great words, is a fantastic theme to kickstart literacy learning for all ages at this time of year.
We have shared some ghostly books here before — they are just brilliant to start a session about the silent letter <h>. Go here to see our list of spooky ghost books.
Here is our list of books that we use in the weeks before and after Halloween.
I have purchased all titles. None were gifted. This is not a sponsored post.
Meg and Mog
Perfect to use for sequencing and rhyming activities.
A classic collection of funny stories that tells the tale of Meg, a witch whose spells always go wrong, Mog, a cat, and their friend, owl. Brightly coloured and with few words on a page, these spellbinding stories have stood the test of time.
Funny Bones
Another classic that tells the tale of three skeletons — a big skeleton, a little skeleton and a dog skeleton - who venture out of their cellar one night to find someone to scare, only to find that everyone is in bed.
We use Funny Bones to highlight the suffix <y>.
fun + y - funny — full of fun.
Add <y> to other words that could describe the skeletons and discuss the suffix <y> and the spelling conventions that happen.
scare + y — scary
creep + y — creepy
happy — not full of hap (from hap meaning chance or fortune sense of being very glad)
A Monster Wrote Me a Letter
This story by Nick Bland is a great jumping-off point when teaching kids why and how to write letters. In this technological world, there is still space for snail mail. This story is told in rhyming verses and tells of a monster's mistake because the letter wasn't for the boy but for the monster living under the boy's bed. A book told from two points of view — the boy and the monster. They both worry about feelings being hurt and what to do when they meet, as the monster has never met a boy before, and the boy has yet to meet a monster.
We have used this book to discuss feelings and empathy. We have also used this book as a scaffold to write invitations and letters.
Room on a Broom
We love to use books that showcase spelling patterns, and Room on a Broom is perfect to start a session about the <oo> spelling or review the sounds represented by the <oo> spelling.
<oo> as in moon: room, broom, broomstick, zoom
<oo> as in book: whoosh and we also add in woo
There are also lots of /ow/ words to discuss:
<ow> down, growl, now, shower
<ou> ground, found, bounded, out, mountains, loud
Reading stories that showcase patterns gives literacy sessions a context for learning. Many of my students are bewildered by the abstract concepts thrust on them in school literacy sessions — they don't have any hooks to cling to and feel lost in the process. When we tie literacy learning to a book, theme or event, we help students connect the dots. Picture books and short novels are always for parents to read. I use parts of stories in literacy sessions. These picture books are never intended as readers for students. We call picture books and short novels — we can read it together books. Decodable books are called — I can read it on my own books.
Owl Babies
The perfect book for sequencing and retelling because it has a beautiful structure and patterned text that lends itself to this type of activity. The story tells the tale of three owls left alone while their mum goes hunting. Sarah is the eldest and tries to allay fears, but Bill is scared and can't wait for his mum to return.
Boo Made You Jump
Part of the beautifully enchanting Charlie and Lola book series. It is also a TV series by Lauren Child. Check out the TV version here. Yet another book to use for the <y> suffix.
furry, scary, creaky, funny, icky, sticky, spooky, ghosty — different spelling to the book title — Ghostie.
The Little Ghost who didn't like to be scary
A super cute book that has so much going on for wordy fun. Check out our ghastly word activity for this book in our ghostly post here.
This book is also perfect for looking at the word scare and all its relatives. Why do we get rid of <e> when we add <y>. Why doesn't the word scared have double <e>? When we build the family, it is easy to show how spelling conventions work.
Ghostie
A beautifully illustrated book that could be a springboard to speech bubbles; why does the word ghostie end in <ie>, and why is there a mix of the fonts used throughout the book?
Use this text as a starter to build the ghost family and think about those ooey, gooey, slimy words that feature. Check out my ghostly books blog post here.
Munch
A story about a monster that we use to revisit the spelling <ch>. We use this book to explain the two spellings for the /ch/ sound and why we use <tch> and not <ch>.
munch, munching, crunch
kitchen, watched
There are also some great words to study for older students, such as ravenous, enormous, and gigantic. We can also learn about words linked to the monster — monstrosity and monstrous.
Scaredy Boo
"Under the bed lived a monster. A monster named Scaredy Boo." This book is also the perfect starter to think about the word scare and how it becomes scaredy. We demonstrate how words work when we build the family and add words to sentences. When we work with engaging words, the enjoyment that can happen and the delight of learning about new words is amazing.
So many fantastic words to discuss.
Crackle, squeak, rustle, whispers, tickly, twitchy, scary, creakity-creak and stuttered are my favourites.
The Jolly Witch
By beloved author Dick King-Smith. Sometimes picture books lend themselves to discussions for older students, and this one is the perfect starter to think about secret powers, fairness, competition and jobs.
This story also showcases the difference between the words which and witch. 'Which witch won?' asked the cat when Mrs Jolly arrived home from the Great Witches' Steeplechase. Mrs jolly never wins, so she uses her vacuum cleaner instead of her broom — is that fair?
Pumpkin Pumpkins Everywhere
A great starter for discussing emotions and opposites. Every page features a different picture that illustrates the words.
Pumpkin mad
Pumpkin sad
Pumpkin happy
Pumpkin wet
Pumpkin dry
Pumpkin is a tricky word — not that we use it often — really, but it is a great example of how letters disappear when we speak. Nobody says Pumpkin — it sounds more like pumkin unless we use our spelling voice.
Where the Wild Things Are
A favourite here and would be in my top ten books. It is my favourite ending of all time.
We have used this book to study the word wild, think about some of the glorious words used and add captions to the wordless pages. It is wildly good fun for everyone. I use picture books for all ages because I tell my students we use them for a reason. Once they realise it is a tool for literacy, they are happy to use whatever book I present as long as there is a reason.
Who Will You Meet On Halloween Street?
This is my go-to for <ee> spelling revision at this time of year.
<ee> words meet, Halloween, street, feet, sweet, tweet, creep, peep, meet, creepiest, cheesy, breezy, sneezy
This book is also perfect to start a session all about describing words and words that end in<y> as a suffix.
cheesy, breezy, sneezy, sporty, shorty, warty, geeky, cheeky, leaky
<ea> treat, creatures, each
<ie> zombie
<y> mummy
There's a Ghost in this House
This one might possibly be the most beautiful book ever produced with its vellum pages and cute little ghosts to hunt on every page. Check out my blog post about ghostly books here.
Creepy Carrots
A series that is well-loved here. There is an animated short for these books here. I always share it with parents. Another book to use to teach or revise the suffix <y>.
creepy carrots
smelly carrots
dirty carrots
bumpy carrots
slimy carrots
Books to inspire writing with older students
Which Witch's Wand Works
Just brilliant for older students who don't know which word to use when spelling which or witch. It is a funny tale about the misadventure of three witches. We always use this book to present similar looking and sounding words, which and witch, in the context of story sentences. Words that look the same but have different meanings are easier to learn once we have a hook to put them on. Once we finish this story and play the which witch game, all of my students use and spell these words correctly. Check out a read-aloud here.
Scary Girl
There is also a movie that could be compared and contrasted. I don't do this with students, but it is a family activity that happens often and is always the source of great debate.
Wordless picture books can be used with all ages and are perfect for scaffolding story writing and dialogue writing. What do the pictures say to you? What words go with each frame?
There are several short chapter book series about witches and wizards that will excite kids who need sustained reading practice in year two and beyond.
Mr Majeka is a set of stories about a wizard who works as a teacher.
Oliver Moon is perfect for reading with kids five and up. It is wizarding fun with no dark themes, so it isn't scary.
The Worst Witch is a classic book and TV show—perfect witchy fun about Mildred Hubble's adventures at boarding school. When my kids were younger and wanted to read Harry Potter, we used Mr Majeka, Oliver Moon and the Worst Witch as a passport to Harry Potter. In the clinic, we also use books in the same way. If you read this first, it will lead to that.
How to Make a Monster
A great mix of text and pictures to engage kids who don't want to see too much text on a page. The chapter titles are all questions, so it is perfect to teach instruction writing at this time of year.
We used this book to write instructions on how to make creepy cakes.
How to live in a spooky house?
How to find a big creepy book?
How to fetch a monster?
How to name your pet monster?
How to find your pet monster
How to play with your pet monster?
How to banish your pet monster?
How to get rid of your pet monster?
How (not) to visit your pet monster?
How to make a plan?
How to rescue your pet monster?
How to make another pet monster?
The Spook Steps Out
A story written in rhyming verse, which is useful when teaching poetry. So many poems, although beautiful, heartfelt and full of messages, go over the heads of our students. This book is sure to capture the imaginations of your students. It is packed with amusing illustrations that fit the words so well. It a funny (not very scary story) about skeletons who go to the fairground at midnight. We have used this story as a scaffold for writing our own Halloween poems about skeletons who go out for the night.
Macbeth
Shakespeare might be one of the best playwrights of all time, but he isn't for everyone as it is hardgoing, and the vocabulary is complex. This is one story in a set of concise Shakespeare stories and is a great introduction because it is retold as a story without difficult vocabulary. The Tony Ross illustrations fit the text perfectly, and the notes at the end explain why Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. I bought the set of stories when my eldest had to do several Shakespeare plays in high school, and they worked a treat as they gave him an opener that was accessible. After reading this abridged version, he could read the original play and understand what was happening.
Happy Halloween! I hope you have lots of wordy fun!
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