Book Review: Halloween

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.

Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.

Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.

The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.

It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).

It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.

This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.

I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.

Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Have you read?

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