Haunted Favourites Shelf: Top 5 Spooky Books for Tots

Did you know that Halloween originated in Scotland? It's connected with the historic customs that relate to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and harvest and the beginning of the dark and cold winters. The festival symbolised the boundary between the living and the dead. So for many centuries, the Celts, and modern day Scots, set large bonfires to ward-off the ghosts and spirits. Bonfires are now predominatly saved for Guy Fawkes Night just a few nights later but all those pumpkin lanterns now do the same job (and in some parts of Scotland folks are still partial to a carved neep - turnip). Until recent years, children went guising (disguised in costumes) pretending to be evil spirits in hopes they would blend in with the spirits wandering that night. Children received a treat for warding off evil of the houses they visited. This has been replaced by the slightly americanised trick-or-treating (they still called it guising in my day) where children perform a little party trick in exchange for a treat. Dookin for apples is a Halloween party game that all Scots bairns have played which stems from the Celts who held apples as a sacred symbol. It's amazing to think how traditions have developed and changed over time. But it sounds a lots more fun these days and a lot less scary as we worry less about evil spirits roaming the streets and are more likely to see a variety of vampires, Frankensteins, ghosts, witches and a variety of superheroes and princesses at our door.

But we have started a little tradition of our own in the BookBairn house - the Haunted Shelf. As this is now BookBairn's third Halloween I have collected several spooky books (and topped up from the library) to haunt our shelves this month. Here are some of our favourites:

Halloween ABC - Jannie Ho

Boo - Jonathan Litton & Fhiona Galloway

This is such a fun little book about a cast of Halloween characters who are spooked by a resonating "boo" on each page. BookBairn loves turning the pages using the die-cut holes and, this year as she's a little older, she loves holding the book up and peeking through. It's got a great cast of spooky characters that are not in the least bit scary! Just great fun. And "full of spooky surprises!" Perfect for the littlest readers in your house.

Ten Spooky Skeletons - Garry Parsons

This book genuinely gave me a fright today. I turned off the light for bedtime and there was this strange glowing from the bookshelf. I forgot this one glows in the dark! A superb counting book, with excellent rhymes, an an eclectic array of scenes, this is a firm favourite. It also has cut-outs on each page and the corresponding numeral hidden in the illustration which BookBairn now enjoys finding. But mostly I love this one because I think the skeletons are adorable. They are so sweet. And they get up to some great fun! If you're looking for a super-spooky-fright(!!) you could have a sneak peek on our old post 'Halloween Hijinks' (with baby BookBairn).

Spooky House - Aimee Chapman, Hannah Cockayne, Amy Oliver and Dan Crisp

I hope you enjoyed reading about some of our favourite spooky books. And have a brilliant Halloween whether you go guising or trick-or-treating (or hide in the dark hoping no-one frightening comes to call).