Happy Halloween!

Ginnie And The New Girl, Catherine Woolley (1954)

A new favorite holiday for adults, Halloween has lost some of its luster in recent years for children. Of course, modern children do get sweet snacks on occasions other than Halloween and Christmas, but it still seems unfair that myths about poisoned candy and parental vapors about kidnappers resulted in a mass retreat from the joys of Halloween.

Below are a few lists of children's books which fit the season.

Halloween
The House With A Clock In The Walls by John Bellairs
Ginnie And The New Girl by Catherine Woolley (chapter Ghosts And Goblins)
The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom (chapter Butterflies Or Ballet Dancers?)
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
Mr. McFadden's Halloween by Rumer Godden

Ghosts
Ghosts Who Went To School by Judith Spearing

Witches
The Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew (pretty much Ruth Chew's entire bibliography)
Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett
The Blue-Nosed Witch by Margaret Embry
The Littlest Witch by Jeanne Massey

Vampires
Bunnicula by James Howe

Scary
The House With A Clock In The Walls by John Bellairs is, like most of Bellairs' books, warm and cozy and more than a little unnerving. The Halloween scene in which Lewis accidentally sets free a malevolent spirit is one of many that gives the book its strength as a genuine little horror novel for kids.
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is another. The story, which allows for a supernatural or psychological explanation, follows a girl's relationship with a stray kitten whose hideous appearance prompts the name Worm. Jessica becomes convinced that Worm is evil, a conduit for a coven of witches, and working against her.

Picture Books
Old Black Witch by Wende Devlin
The Witch Kitten by Ruth Carroll
How Spider Saved Halloween by Robert Kraus