Halloween Book Countdown: 31 Days of Halloween Fun!
One of my great loves in life is reading– books of all kinds. I also love Halloween. Not the scary, ghoulish, gory kind, but the fun costumes, trick or treating, sugar cookies, and pumpkins-on-the-porch kind.  To celebrate both of these, I created a Halloween Book Countdown—a really fun way to count down the thirty-one days to Halloween, starting with October 1st. We are now on our ninth year of this tradition, and we absolutely love it!
Halloween Book Countdown…How does it work?
I gather thirty-one Halloween books, and then I either wrap them up and number them, or place them in a cute basket or crate. Every day beginning October 1st, we choose one of the books to read. How my kids love this long-loved tradition, and it’s the perfect way to help celebrate the fun part of Halloween!
I make a list of some of our favorite Halloween books, along with a few others I want to try, then head to the library. I’m working on collecting our own set, but until then, the library is the perfect resource. It usually has all the titles I’m looking for, plus others that are new to us, which I love.
It’s a good idea to head to your library right around the first of the month, to make sure you have a good selection. Checkout dates vary from library to library (we’ve had two, three, and four weeks), but most of them offer renewals, so you could have the books for the entire month. If they don’t offer renewals on holiday books, you can always go a couple of times that month to stock up. It’s totally worth it!!
A Halloween Book Countdown means cozy nights snuggled up together, a good book, and just maybe a cup of hot chocolate. Perfection.
HALLOWEEN BOOK COUNTDOWN DETAILS:
You can use a tub, crate, basket, or even a space on your bookshelf to keep your books. This method is nice if you want your kids to be able to choose their own book each night. I also like wrapping them up in paper and placing a number on them, for more of a surprise. Honestly, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy to be fun–using a basket you already have is perfect too!
My first bin that I used years ago looked like this…just a simple black plastic tote that I think was from the Dollar Store!Â
Download tags:
If you want to wrap your books, I’ve got spooky numbered tags for you!
DOWNLOAD TAGS HERE
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Here is a list of 31 Halloween books that we love for our Halloween Book Countdown! (Most of these books are targeted for ages 3-8)Â Affiliate links are included below for your convenience.
The book featured in the pictures? One of our most favorites!! B is for Boo!
- Too Many Pumpkins
- Pumpkin Soup
- The Biggest Pumpkin Ever
- Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden
- How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?
- Pumpkin Pumpkin
- In the Haunted House
- Room on the Broom
- The Night Before Halloween
- Ten Timid Ghosts
- The Berenstain Bears Trick or TreatÂ
- Big Pumpkin
- The Vanishing Pumpkin
- Humbug Witch
- Bugs That Go Bump in the Night
- Five Little PumpkinsÂ
- Scary, Scary Halloween
- Peek-a-Boooo!
- Mrs. McMurphy’s Pumpkin
- It’s Halloween
- The 13 Nights of Halloween
, Rebecca Dickinson
- Miss Fiona’s Stupendous Pumpkin Pies
- Happy Halloween, Ladybug Girl!
- The Bumpy Little Pumpkin
- Halloween Night
, Arden Druce
- Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve (Magic Tree House, No. 30)
- All Hallows Eve: The Story of the Halloween Fairy
- Pumpkin Hill
- Skeleton Hiccups
- The Ugly Pumpkin
- Trick or Treat Countdown
, Patricia Hubbard
Have a favorite story that’s not listed here? Please share!
just maybe a cup of hot chocolate.
Other posts you might like…
- How to Make the Perfect Caramel Apple!
- Trick-or-Treat Printable Gift Tag
- Striped Halloween Wreath
- Paint Can Trick-or-Treat Buckets


Kierste Wade is a published author, blogger, and mom to six. With more than 20 years DIY and project experience, she has been sharing ideas on her blog since 2009. Focusing on simple and doable projects, she loves to share attainable ideas for all things home, holidays, and family. Kierste has been featured on Better Homes and Gardens, HGTV, American Farmhouse Magazine (print and online) Taste of Home, Country Living, and more.