The best Usborne Halloween books for children (spooky but not too scary!)

Halloween doesn't have to be all trick and no treat. For younger children, it's a chance to enjoy friendly ghosts, smiling pumpkins and plenty of seasonal fun without anything too frightening.

Whether your child loves touching different textures, making silly noises, painting colourful pumpkins or covering spooky scenes with stickers, there are lots of ways to enjoy Halloween together. From sensory board books for babies to creative activities, puzzles and games for older children, these Halloween books are full of playful surprises that make the season feel exciting rather than scary.

Halloween books for babies and toddlers: friendly frights first

For little ones, Halloween is all about exploring. Turning sturdy pages, feeling different textures and joining in with funny sounds helps build familiar reading routines, while friendly ghosts, pumpkins and bats introduce the season in a reassuring way. 

Touchy-feely Halloween books

The THAT'S NOT MY® series brings Halloween creatures into a familiar touch-and-feel format, with tactile patches and the little white mouse to look for. 

Start with That's not my pumpkin..., where different pumpkin textures turn a Halloween favourite into a sensory book for babies. The Usborne description includes fuzzy leaves, bumpy pumpkin skin and a velvety witch's hat.

Then meet more seasonal characters with That's not my bat… and That's not my monster…. Both titles put a Halloween-ready spin on the series' bright pictures, tactile patches and spot-the-mouse pattern. 

And for a whole cast of Halloween characters in the same much-loved world, there's That's not my... Halloween.

Ghosts and skeletons that make you giggle

A ghost that says “woooo!” when tickled is much more likely to inspire a grin than a shriek.

Don't Tickle the Ghost! combines touchy-feely patches with sounds. Children can meet a ghost, witch, werewolf and other Halloween characters as they explore the pages.

The fun continues with Don't Tickle the Skeleton!. This time, the warning is not to tickle the skeleton — because it might rattle. Like the other books in the series, touching the patches triggers different sounds.

For another way to get hands involved, Fingerwiggly Ghosts has holes for little fingers to become the arms of two friendly ghosts. The pair set off trick-or-treating through a spooky forest, meeting pumpkins, bats, cats and other Halloween sights along the way. 

Halloween sound books for little listeners

Sometimes the quickest way to make Halloween less ominous is to make it noisy.

In Halloween Sound Book, Cat, Dog and their friends prepare for a Halloween party and try out their best spooky noises. There are five sounds to discover, plus pumpkins to spot throughout the book. 

Slider Sound Books: Boo! makes the noises part of the action. Moving a slider reveals a Halloween creature and a sound; moving it back produces a different spooky surprise. Expect wailing ghosts, cackling witches, thunder and a howling wolf, all presented with playful illustrations. 

For sound books, grown-ups should always follow the safety information supplied with the book.

A Halloween story with a farmyard twist

Not every Halloween book needs a haunted castle.

In Poppy and Sam's Halloween Party, Rusty the dog has disappeared just before the party. Children can follow Poppy and Sam as they search for him, peeping through holes, touching textured pages and spotting bats, pumpkins, spiders, farm animals and, of course, the little yellow duck. 

It's a Halloween adventure grounded in the familiar world of Apple Tree Farm, with just enough bats and pumpkins to make things feel suitably seasonal.

Halloween activity books for children who would rather make than shriek

For some children, the best way into Halloween is through a paintbrush, pencil or pot of stickers. These books put the focus on making something, giving busy hands plenty to do while ghosts and monsters provide the theme.

Add water and watch Halloween appear

First Magic Painting Pumpkins is filled with black-and-white pumpkin scenes that reveal colours when children brush them with water. The pictures include a pumpkin patch, mice carving pumpkins and friendly jack-o'-lanterns, and a paintbrush is included.

For a wider Halloween cast, First Magic Painting Halloween includes cats, toads, witches, wizards and monsters. Children simply brush water over the pictures to reveal the hidden colours.

And monster fans can keep their brush busy with First Magic Painting Monsters, a playful alternative if funny creatures are more appealing than classic Halloween witches and ghosts.

Colour your own Halloween

For pencils and crayons rather than water, Little First Colouring Halloween offers a simple seasonal colouring activity for children aged 3+. The Little First Colouring series is designed to encourage pen control and colouring skills.

And younger fans of the THAT'S NOT MY® world can move from touchy-feely reading to pencils with That's not my... Halloween Activity Book. Best for age 2+, it includes Halloween-themed things to spot, pictures to complete, shapes to trace and words to learn, with the little white mouse appearing throughout. 

The best Halloween sticker books for ages 3+

Stickers turn spooky scenes into something children can rearrange, decorate and make their own.

Little First Stickers Halloween includes haunted houses, a witches' workshop, a pumpkin patch and a monster party, with more than 300 reusable stickers and a fold-out back cover for storing them.

For another compact sticker adventure, Little First Stickers Creepy Halloween heads into bubbling cauldrons, haunted houses and whispering woods, with little monsters trick-or-treating, pumpkins to choose and a full-moon werewolf party. 

If a little sparkle makes everything better, try Sparkly Halloween Sticker Book. Its Halloween adventure takes children through places including a haunted house, creepy crypt and wailing woods, with sparkly stickers to add along the way.

And First Sticker Book Halloween fills its supernatural scenes with cute witches, vampires and ghosts. It contains more than 100 stickers and is best for age 3+.

Halloween crafts and things to make

Want Halloween fun that can escape from the page and start decorating the house?

Halloween things to make and do combines craft projects with puzzles and activities. Children can make creations including straw skeletons, spooky spiders, paper chains and pumpkins, with illustrated instructions and tips. There are also drawing, spotting, counting and matching activities. 

It's an especially useful choice when one Halloween activity simply isn't enough. Make something, solve something, draw something, then decide where the paper skeleton is going to live.

Halloween puzzles, jigsaws and games

Books aren't the only way to bring Halloween characters to the table.

Usborne Book and 3 Jigsaws: Halloween combines reading with three jigsaws for extra fun!

For a game everyone can join, Halloween Snap is a set of 52 illustrated cards for the classic game of Snap or other matching games. The pictures include witches, spiders, bats and cats, and is best for age 3+.

Count down the nights until Halloween

If the build-up is half the fun in your house, 13 Nights to Halloween! turns the final stretch before 31 October into an activity of its own.

The calendar has 13 windows, each hiding a miniature book. The Usborne edition includes five spooky story books, two colouring books, a sticker book and five books of Halloween crafts made using recycled or everyday household items.

One window a day means there is always another tiny Halloween surprise waiting, without needing to make the fright factor any bigger.

Free Halloween activities to download

Already got enough books on the shelf? Keep the Halloween fun going with Usborne's free downloadable activity pack.

Download the Usborne Halloween Activity Pack >

Usborne's Halloween collection highlights the activity pack as an extra way to keep children busy during spooky season.

How to choose a Halloween book that's spooky but not too scary

If you're trying to keep Halloween on the gentler side, think about the kind of fun your child already enjoys.

• For babies and toddlers, touchy-feely books such as That's not my pumpkin..., That's not my bat… and the Don't Tickle books make Halloween about textures, pictures and funny sounds.
• For children who love getting creative, try magic painting, colouring or sticker books. Pumpkins, monsters and ghosts become things to decorate rather than things to fear.
• For busy hands, Halloween things to make and do, the jigsaw set and Halloween Snap turn the theme into a project or game.
• For children who love the build-up, 13 Nights to Halloween! stretches the fun across the countdown to 31 October.

The common thread is simple: Halloween can be curious, colourful, noisy, sparkly and gloriously silly. A ghost can say “woooo”, a skeleton can rattle, a monster can need painting, and spooky season can feel like an invitation to explore.

More Halloween fun with Usborne

Whether you're sharing a first Halloween with a baby, looking for an October half-term activity or filling an afternoon with stickers and paint, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the season without reaching for the really frightening stuff.

Pick a pumpkin. Tickle a ghost. Wiggle some ghostly fingers. Add a few hundred stickers.

Spooky? A little.

Fun? Absolutely.