I don’t know why Halloween releases come out in August, but I like spooky stories at any time of the year! Let me walk you through five spooky themed books and three family stories that travel around the world.
Let’s start with the spooky ones:
The Mushroom of Doom! by Becky Davies (Author), Thomas Elliott (Illustrated by)
This plucky mushroom does not take defeat lightly! Nor bad experiences… and his life has been nothing but fearsome experiences (like being tread on) one after the other!
First, he’s not picked to go on the pizza (the family prefers Pineapple). In the refrigerator, Milk spills all over him. Finally, he gets thrown into the compost bin!
So the mushroom is completely set on building an army of like-minded mushrooms and seeking revenge!
I loved Thomas Elliott’s watercolor illustrations; it would be a romp to read out loud in the classroom and paint the mushrooms’ silly faces afterwards.
The Mushroom of Doom! will be available on August 26, 2025.
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Pages: 40/ Hardback
EAN/UPC: 9781454961192
Up next, a bat and his mommy:
Fly, Mama, Fly! Anna McGregor (Author)
Anna McGregor has a knack for delivering toddler-friendly books with an ecological message, and this book does not disappoint.
Did you know that baby bats cling to their mothers, and that mothers can fly with them? The fluorescent colors and hues McGregor uses, and her accurate representation of the vital role flying foxes play in maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Mother and child fly, eat, pollinate flowers, and spread seeds across vast distances.
And as bats need our awareness, we might as well use this book for Halloween reads, too!
Fly, Mama, Fly! is on sale since August 05, 2025.
Publisher: Scribble Us
Pages: 26
ISBN: 9781964992143
Up next, a vampire snail:
Bob the Vampire Snail by Andrea Zuill (Author)
This is a serious contestant for my top books of the year! It is a silly story told well, with humor throughout and wonderful imagery, something to be read over and over again and laugh at every turn of the page.
To start with, all snails are named Bob. Now, one of the Bobs became a different type of snail, because of something that dripped on him! Now, he is a vampire snail that sucks tomatoes dry!
How do we know that he is a vampire snail? Well, the fangs are a dead giveaway… and now he sleeps upside down in a cave like bats do, and of course, he can fly! Will he be alone, marked as different by the snail community? Maybe he will find a mate to scour the night and hunt for helpless tomatoes…
This is a laugh-out-loud, endearing, funny story, and it deserves a place on your shelf.
Bob the Vampire Snail is on sale since August 05, 2025.
Published by Random House Studio
Hardback | Pages: 40
ISBN: 9780593814963
Now, an irksome ghost:
Aggie and the Ghost Matthew Forsythe (Author), Matthew Forsythe (Illustrated by)
This is a story about an unlikely friendship, where a girl who finally gets to live by herself is haunted by a ghost who refuses to abide by the house rules.
Aggie is very bossy, and the ghost is very defiant. However, after the contest that they run against each other to see who gets to keep the house, one of them will storm out after losing.
That is not, however, the end of the story. The aftermath reminded me of something that happened in college. I moved from home and started living with my aunt, only to find out that we couldn’t cope with each other. When I moved out, we became best friends. Can Aggie and the ghost possibly miss each other’s company?
Aggie and the Ghost is on sale since August 19, 2025
Published by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Hardback | Pages: 64
ISBN: 9781534478206
Our last spooky book is a graphic novel that has to do with money issues:
Pumpkin and Beetle: Two Vampire Cats by Jannie Ho (Author)
Vampire cats sleep during the day, only eat red foods, and they go to school at night. Two best friends, Pumpkin and, live in Hallowsville.
They want to buy the latest Frightful’s comic. But they don’t have any money, only a tree house and lots of moldy crabapples!
When they try to bake crabapple muffins, everything falls apart. Nothing they come up with to earn money is as successful as they wish it to be.
Adult witches, werewolves, and other monster neighbors interact with them but are not there to solve their problems, something I found very refreshing.
The book also includes a town map, a recipe for muffins, and a sample of the famous Frightful comic.
Pumpkin and Beetle: Two Vampire Cats is on sale since August 05, 2025.
Published by Holiday House
Hardback | Pages: 80
ISBN: 9780823459629
Now for a family book:
Home, Home by Sibu T. P. (Author)
Ajesh does not remember his parents’ homeland. He thinks summer is for staying home and drinking chaiya, a milky tea that is a specialty of his mom.
He finds comfort in these small treasures, as complicated as the outside world is, home is home.
But then, what does it mean to take a trip “back home”?
His parents take him to Kerala, India, and when Ajesh arrives, everything is dusty, hot, and unfamiliar to him.
Family members, crowded streets, noise in a foreign language… nothing feels right, that is, until chaiya is served.
Daily rituals, how they shape space and generations, borders and migrant families… Everything can be summed up in a cup of sweet, milky tea, the color of his skin.
Home, Home is on sale since August 12, 2025.
Published by Viking Books for Young Readers
Hardback | Pages: 32
ISBN: 9780593403730
Up next a magical middle grade novel:
The Library of Unruly Treasures by Jeanne Birdsall (Author), Matt Phelan (Illustrated by)
The idea behind the book is a compelling one: winged creatures, that only a few children can see, are hidden in a grand MacKinnon library, tucked away North of Boston. How did they get there? They migrated with one of Gwen’s ancestors, and now feel that this girl must help them migrate again.
Now, Gwen MacKinnon has been dumped on the lap of her nice, thoughtful uncle purely by accident. His parents didn’t have where to put her as they pursued their interests in different parts of the world. So, this solitary, ill-treated child has gotten to know her uncle and his dog Pumpkin and has decidedly landed in a safer place than home, something that she finds very surprising.
More surprised than with the Lahdukan, as the winged creatures call themselves? Maybe. The Lahdukan insist that Gwen is destined to help them find a new home.
How can she possibly help them if she is unable to help herself in her life circumstances? Maybe pumpkin has a few ideas… that dog does love her.
The Library of Unruly Treasures is on sale since July 1st, 2025.
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Hardback | Pages: 352
ISBN: 9780525579045
Finally, a Newbery Medal Winner:
When You Reach Me by Gord Rebecca Stead (Author)
Sixth grader Miranda lives in New York and has to walk around as most New Yorkers do. That exposes her to all sorts of interactions with all types of people, some friendly, some scary. After she no longer walks home with her best friend, she starts receiving mysterious notes. The notes tell her that she must write a letter, a true story, and no one can know what she’s up to.
The mission has something to do with the future; they are trying to prevent something huge from happening, and whoever has been leaving her these notes… it seems that they can predict the future. Can Miranda write about what happened, and most importantly, what led up to it?
When You Reach Me is on sale since December 28, 2010.
Published by Yearling
Paperback / softback/ 240 pages
ISBN: 9780375850868
Fonte: GeekDad - Leia mais