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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 21, 2011

It’s time to start prepping for the holiday season. First stop: Halloween. No tricks here—only treats!

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.
~Author Unknown

Our 2011 Halloween book list spotlights everything from growing pumpkins; overcoming fears (a great topic for youngsters that tend to get a little surprised when they no longer recognize their family and friends due to colorful costumes and scary masks); witches; skeletons; cats and bats; and plain-old, creepy stories that beg to be read on a dark night with a flashlight. From babies to beginning readers to middle graders to young adults, TCBR has you covered.

Board Books

Spooky Boo! A Halloween Adventure

by Lily Karr (Author), Kyle Poling (Illustrator)

Reading level: Baby-Preschool

Board book: 12 pages

Publisher: Cartwheel Books; Brdbk edition (July 1, 2011)

Source: Publisher

Publisher’s synopsis: What’s Halloween without a haunted house? Come inside SPOOKY BOO! A HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE – it’s filled with tons of Halloween fun! With spooky lift-the-flaps, icky touch-and-feels, and outrageous mirrors throughout, this is one haunted house that trick-or-treaters will want to visit again and again!

Add this book to your collection: Spooky Boo! A Halloween Adventure

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Little Black Book

by Renee Khatami

Reading level: Baby-Preschool

Board book: 14 pages

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (July 26, 2011)

Source: Publisher

Publisher’s synopsis: Black is the new black in this darkly tantalizing touch-and-feel extravaganza for the senses! Now babies can enjoy this daring color in a novelty board book chock-full of gorgeous, full-color photographs. There are textures to touch, a flap surprise, and the scratch ‘n’ sniff scent of sweet licorice that you can almost taste!

Add this book to your collection: Little Black Book

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This past week, my 14 month old nephew and his mama and daddy stayed with us, getting a taste of the New Mexico weather before we head on to Virginia at the end of the month. The little man is a huge fan of books (just like his Aunt Amanda) and I thought we could feature HIS choices this evening. I had every single board book I own out in the living room for him to "read" and play with, probably close to 50, and the books he always seemed to be looking at, touching, or wanting read to him were as follows:

Baby Nose to Baby Toes, written by Vicky Ceelen, which features absolutely BRILLIANT photographs of both babies and baby animals. A lovely, lovely book that my nephew enjoyed and I would recommend for a fantastic shower gift.


Biscuit Visits the Petting Zoo by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, is a wonderful touch-and-feel book that he kept going back to again and again. He LOVED the last page where you could rub Biscuit's belly! Apparently it was just hilarious to him! There are lots and lots of Biscuit touch-and-feel books out there, Biscuit being as popular as he is.


In My Nest by Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich, is pretty brand-new on the market, I had just gotten a package with that and In My Pond the day before the family left, but once the baby saw this book, he didn't let it go. Featuring an awesome interactive finger puppet and cool circle-within-a-circle design, another great one for toddlers. I can see why he enjoyed it so much.

And finally, Who Lives in the Pond, a Baby Einstein bath book, written by Julie Aigner-Clark and illustrated by Nadeem Zaidi. Drool proof, baby teeth proof, water proof, the child just couldn't get over the fact that he was actually ALLOWED to bring this one into the bathtub with him. Very cute!

Those are the nephew's reviews! To learn more or to purchase, click on any of the book covers to link to Amazon. Board books are relatively inexpensive, so they make great gifts.