The Best Halloween Books to Get your Kids Talking
(and a step-by-step how-to guide for each book)
Does anyone else feel like October is just flying right by? I haven’t gotten a chance to catch my breath and wrap my head around the fact that Halloween is almost here!
Before it’s too late (but is it ever really too late? Our kiddos love reading Halloween-themed books all year round), check out a few of our favorite Halloween books that are at a just-right level for your littles. And keep scrolling for how to work on increasing your child’s language with each of these books.
Book 1: Five Little Pumpkins
This book is perfectly set up to give your little one an opportunity to imitate gestures and words. When reading this with your child, remember to ADD IN GESTURES. For gestures, we’re looking for any body movement that represents what the words convey.
GESTURES ARE KEY
We are going for any imitation attempt with this book. If your little one copies your gesture, great. They pair the movements with a verbal attempt, awesome. And if they imitated the words, but not the gestures, that’s amazing too.
Expect that the response will be different after every page. Because, well…kids are unpredictable little humans. We’re not going for an adult version of “perfection” here, just increasing the amount of connection time.
Book 2: Spooky Wheels on the Bus
Nothing like a spooky take on a favorite song to get in the Halloween spirit. Use this book to:
Fill in your pause while singing
imitate actions (points for creativity!)
Model counting the creatures on each page
BONUS POINTS: Pair this book with our favorite Halloween squishies to work on matching
Match the squishies to each page saying, “Where’s the _____ squishy?”.
Add your magic pause and see if your toddler will find the squishy that matches with the page.
Then, let them hold and play with the squishy while you keep reading.
Taking the pressure off talking/imitating increases willingness to attempt! It’s a little counterintuitive, isn’t it?
Sing the song and add actions to each page. Move your hands like wipers while saying, “creak creak creak”, or come up with your best witches move.
No need to ask your child to repeat it, just model!
Count the items on each page saying, “There’s ONE bus” while tapping it.
Add your Magic Pause while you model counting, and see if your Little wants to help you tap the pictures while counting, or try to count themselves. Remember, any attempt is a great one. So if your kid stalls out when counting like mine does, “one, two, three, three, ten”, just continue to model.
Remember to Pause, Watch, and Wait. And enjoy the magic of this spooky season and connecting with your little one.
Book 3: Goodnight Goon
This is a great spooky season take on the classic Goodnight Moon. The predictive nature of rhyming books can be a great way to help your little one talk. Use this book to help your kiddo fill in your pause. If your child is having difficulty filling in your pauses, give a clue with a gesture. It may be the clue they need to try a word, or they may copy your gesture as their form of expression.
Copying gestures is a foundational skill for saying those words too!
“And there were three little mummies rubbing their tummies”.
You: start the phrase, PAUSE, WATCH, WAIT before you say, “tummies”.
If your child doesn’t fill in the blank after you’ve done your pause, watch, and wait, try giving them a hint: tap your tummy to give a clue.
Book 4. Little Blue Truck’s Halloween
You will hear a lot of speech-language pathologists say, “Don’t say say”. It’s one of our go-to strategies when working with little ones on developing language. It’s an easy-to-remember, catchy way to tell you NOT to do something, but also, we hear you asking, “What DO I DO?!?”
Here are a couple of ideas:
Focus on the lift the flap portion of the book. Instead of saying, “say duck” or peppering your child with questions, “what is that? What’s that animal?”, use the words on the inside flap as your guide.
Instead of “say duck”, try “it’s a duck!” or “quack says the ____” (pause).
Look at your child in a way that shows you are waiting for them to fill in your pause. We call this an “expectant pause”. You might even audibly inhale during your pause.
If your child doesn’t fill in your pause? Totally fine. You model filling in that expectant pause. “Oink says the ____” (Pause…audibly inhale), your child doesn’t fill in your pause so you say: “Piggy!” and move onto the next page.
If your child doesn’t say the word you’re pausing for: Don’t sweat it! You model the word you’re waiting for. Not saying, “say” is all about modeling and pausing.
What are your favorite Halloween books?
Happy reading, fam!
