Book Review: Halloween

September 25, 2025 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Halloween is a holiday that many kids in America (and increasingly around the world) know about, but if you want to approach learning about Halloween as part of fall traditions, Halloween by Nancy Dickmann is a nice addition to your Halloween library.

Illustrated by Laura Borio, the book tells the story of Luna and her family as they celebrate fall and get ready for Halloween. They go to the pumpkin patch, make decorations and costumes and decorate pumpkins (one of which looks like a sugar skull so you can tie this book to Dia de Los Muertos as well).

The family throws a party with special snacks like candy apples and hot dog mummies, and they take part in a trunk or treat activity as well as traditional door to door trick or treating. (Spoiler alert: Luna’s view on candy corn may be a little controversial.)

The book emphasizes that Halloween is about creativity (and candy) not really scary stuff.

And while it’s not part of the main story, there is a section in the back about traditions that lead to our modern day Halloween celebrations, such as the Celtic festival of Samhain, the Catholic All Saints and All Souls’ days. It also talks about Halloween traditions like carving pumpkins, wearing costumes and trick or treating.

It also touches on Dia de Los Muertos, the Hungry Ghost Festival in China and other parts of Asia, Pitru Paksha (a Hindu celebration when ancestors are said to visit earth) and the Japanese Obon festival.

There are instructions for making a pumpkin pinata, frozen banana “ghost pops” and a couple of ways to make spider webs. There’s also a little quiz at the back.

This is a great book for an overview of what people do on and around Halloween for students who might not have that tradition, or as a way to talk about what their families do in the fall, regardless of whether they celebrate Halloween. You can also use it to get into a “best candy” debate.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2025 by words & pictures. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Ghost Craft Ideas for Kids

Ghost crafts are a lot of fun for kids to make and they’re a way to get into Halloween crafting that’s not really scary. Here are some easy ghost crafts for you to make with kids, whether it’s your kiddo at home or a class full.

I love this simple ghost made with a pompom or cotton ball covered in paint and used as a stamp. This one is from Crafts on Sea and you can have kids just hold the pompom or hold it with a clothespin to make it a little less messy.

Use cotton balls and printable facial expressions to make these silly ghosts from Housing a Forest. The post includes the printable templates or you can just add googly eyes.

Little fabric ghosts are a classic, whether you make them with white fabric or fall or Halloween fabric. Buggy and Buddy shows you how to make these little ghosts with a few cute embellishments. Just make one or two or make a garland or Halloween tree full of them.

There always seem to be paper plates lying around, and this paper plate ghost from Crafts by Amanda is a fun one. There’s a printable in the post for the facial features and arms, or kids can draw their own faces (and leave off the arms if you want to keep it simple).

What kid doesn’t love peeling dried glue? Turn that impulse into a craft with these glue ghosts from Friends Art Lab, and don’t miss the tip in the post that helps you turn these into window clings.

This handprint ghost in the window craft from Glued to My Crafts is so cute and easy for kids to make alone or with help. The post shows lots of variations so it would be fun to make these in a classroom and let each kiddo design their own “window” or add embellishments.

These sweet little tissue paper ghosts from Red Ted Art are actually mini pinatas, but you can just make it as a ghost without anything inside if you’d rather.

And you know I love a good kids’ sewing project so I can’t resist sharing these little felt ghost puppets from The Craft Train. Kids can sew them by hand or you can make them out of paper if you don’t want to try sewing them. The template for the ghosts is free to download, and you can also just make little softies instead of puppets if you like.

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