By Rebecca Yee
Besides Christmas, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Candy, costumes, hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin decorating... there is just so much fun to go around!
I remember when I was a kid, there was a little forest behind the church we attended. Every year for Halloween, we would have a haunted forest walk through. The parents would dress up in "scary" costumes and be scattered through the path of the woods. They would jump out and "scare us" all in good fun. Then after everyone went through, we would have a bonfire and a party. It was one of my favorite activities because I got to hang out with my friends and celebrate a fun holiday.
As I am getting older, I get to watch my nieces and nephews have fun dressing up and going trick or treating and have that fun that I did when I was a kid. Being an author and illustrator, I love creating books based on various holidays. Because why wouldn't I want to share some of that magic in the holidays I found as a kid, with other kids?
My first Halloween book was released in 2017. It is called Trick or Treat Others Kindly and is part of The Adventures of Pookie series. This one came on the heels of bullying at my nieces and nephews schools, and I still stand by the message today. I will be updating the illustrations, because I have grown as an artist since publishing this, but the message is clear and everyone that has read it loves the message. And who doesn't love dogs?? All the dogs in this book are cartoon characters based on dogs we know in real life.
My second Halloween book is being released this week. It is part of a new collection of books that I will be writing about each of my nieces and nephews. The first is about my baby niece, Natalya. She just turned 3 years old and she is the most curious and loving little girl. So introducing: Natalya Loves Candy. A story about Natalya, a kind hearted little girl who loves her family, friends, and animals. Follow her as she goes trick or treating with her friends and sneaks something back into her room.
(Click on picture to purchase your copy of Natalya Loves Candy!)
Being an independent author, I have met and become friends with many other independent authors. Here are some fun and super cute Halloween books for kids that I also think you will love! (click on the titles of the books to purchase your copies!)
1.) Arial, the Good Witch by Mary Nhin - Arial, Ailene, and Alex are happily on their way to grandmas’s house when the wind picks up and blows away part of Alex’s costume. Luckily, three animals help out on their search for his sword. But when monsters come out, will Arial be able to save them all?
2.) When the Clock Strikes on Halloween by Lisa Ferland - It's Halloween night which means trick-or-treating in spooktacular costumes. This is the right book to get kids interested in learning about time counting every hour until Halloween.
3.) Bo the Bat by Alma Hammond - Bo the Bat wears a top hat, rides a bike and loves to chat. But when Bo comes near, children hide in fear. Bo only wants to have some fun, trick-or-treat like everyone. See how Bo wins the children over in this fun, colorful story for kids
4.) On Halloween by Kathryn Viers - Who is hiding behind that tree? It's all your favorite Halloween friends waiting to celebrate with you! This adorable Halloween story started as a song that Kathryn Viers created to sing to her kids over her favorite Fall holiday and is now available to kids of all ages with illustrations based on Kathy's original homemade book.
5.) Merry Fairy Halloween by Melissa Spencer - Fairies love Halloween! Dink, the Tooth Fairy, is thrilled to show you how fairies celebrate Halloween in Fairyland.See the fairies' faBOO-lous costumes, their BOO-tiful decorations, their SPOOK-tacular parties! Giggle (or groan) at the unBOO-lievably punny jokes and enjoy a Merry Fairy Halloween!
6.) Carrie Can't Choose a Costume by Joy Hardin - Choosy Carrie needs help! She wants to win the Halloween costume contest, but she can't choose a costume! Follow Choosy Carrie as she tries to find the perfect costume to win the contest and have the perfect Halloween. What will she decide to be? Will she go with her favorite princess dress, a simple ghost costume, a football jersey, or something else?
7.) What are Monsters Afraid of? by Carmen Parets Luque - Have you ever wondered what monsters might be afraid of? Ghosts, witches, vampires, mummies, skeletons and many more monsters reveal their best-kept secrets on the pages of this tale.
8.) The Scariest Book in the Whole Entire World by Joey Acker - Nameless attempts to inform the reader of the perils that await them, but he unfortunately forgets some along the way! Will he be brave enough to make it to the end? Will YOU be brave enough to make it to the end?? Is there really a unicorn in this book??? Wait...what?!?!?
9.) Skull Castle & the Temple of Candy by Rebecca Yee, Chad Heck, and Sarah Hukill Davis - The people of Tiger Towne love Halloween, but there is one named Mr. Charlie Crabgrass who does not. Mr. Crabgrass hates everything and tries to shut down a charity haunted house. Tiger Towne rallies together to show Mr. Crabgrass what good can come when they work together. (I actually forgot about this one! LOL. I wrote it with a few friends a couple years ago, sorry the picture is blurry, I can't find the original image since my computer crashed last year)
Grab some hot chocolate and that trick or treat candy, sit down with your kids, and make some memories with all of these fun Halloween books for kids!
One more book I want to include, that may be helpful for kids who are a little scared at Halloween time. Goodbye Bad Dreams by Lori Fettner - Hannah has bad dreams and a great imagination. She learns how to use her imagination to turn her bad dreams into good ones and you can to! If you are tired of waking up to cries of "I had a bad dream," this book can help you and your little ones finally get a good night's sleep.
This book uses a known therapeutic strategy to help children overcome bad dreams, and is a fun book for any child who likes art. A blank page is often scary for an adult to look at, but kids see blank pages as canvases waiting to be filled. In this book, kids are not only allowed to, but encouraged to draw on the pages! Children love getting to draw in this book, and then reading it again and again with their art telling the story! Adult artists who are first venturing into illustration use this book as a tool for practicing placing their pictures with someone else's text. Look inside at the tips page for more on how to use this I Create Art book for the little (or not so little) artists in your life.
Comments