Halloween Book Club For Wimbledon Kids

It’s October, the clocks are going back and it’s time to get the kids in the mood for that spookiest of nights: Halloween. Culture Editor Janie Smith picks three age-appropriate reads to help your young ones enjoy the Halloween party fun. Boo!

Scary story books are always guaranteed to be spine-tingling fun, and help kids get in the spirit to celebrate all things witchy and wizardly! From globetrotting ghost stories to spooky sticker books, we’ve got your Halloween fun covered…

‘A World Full of Spooky Stories’ by Angela McAllister, Illustrated by Mandalina Andronic

Get ready for Halloween with this child-friendly collection of spooky stories from all over the world. Make sure the kids have got their torches ready for this pulse-racing, skin-tingling selection of tales to read under the duvet!

Let them discover fearsome witch Baba Yaga, the rescue of Tam Lin from the bewitching Queen of the Fairies, how Father Death gets caught in the Enchanted Apple Tree, and the water dwelling Bunyip from Australia. Make sure you have your candle ready, as it’s sure to be a long night…

This gorgeous gift book is the perfect anthology for Halloween, or any time you want to be spooked! With more than 50 stories from Africa to New Zealand via Canada, Brazil, Japan, Iceland, Egypt, Tibet and more, it’s perfect for primary-aged kids, and a great book to dip in and out of.

‘The Ghost in the Mirror’ by John Bellairs, completed by Brad Strickland

This lovely tale is part of a series that has been recently revived on film in The House With Clocks in its Walls, and is an engrossing read for children aged 9 to 12.

Mrs Zimmermann is at a loss – she still hasn’t regained her powers from her last encounter with dark magic, and Uncle Jonathan and Lewis have left for the summer to travel around Europe, leaving her and Rose Rita bored and lonely at home. That is, until Mrs Zimmermann keeps seeing visions and shadows of her old magic teacher, Granny Wetherbee, who is trying to contact her from beyond the grave…

Mrs Zimmermann and Rose Rita set off to Pennsylvania to solve the mystery and, in doing so, travel back in time to Granny Wetherbee, who tells them that they must save a good wizard, Grandpa Drexel, who is destined to die for a wrongdoing he didn’t commit. As they both try to change the past, evil lurks in the background – Mrs Zimmermann is struck by amnesia and they must face a local wizard with a grudge and an old score to settle.

Will Mrs Zimmermann regain her memory and her powers? Will they be able to right a past wrong? Will they make it back home alive? This story will keep them guessing until the very end…

Peppa’s Happy Halloween!

Celebrate Halloween with Peppa Pig colouring fun. Yes, yes, I know! I can hear you already! This is not a reading book! Correct!

Very young children aren’t always confident readers but that doesn’t mean they can’t get ready for the fun of Halloween. Activity-laden books like this Peppa Pig one are great for firing up their imaginations, getting a conversation started and boosting their creativity. You can even use it to encourage further reading. What’s not to love?

Boys and girls aged 3 to 7 will love colouring in and enjoying more than 30 stickers as they help Peppa and her friends plan a spooktastic Halloween!

I hope you have a wonderful family Halloween. We’d love to know which title or titles you chose to read, and what you thought of them. Please do start a conversation on social: @EyesofLadyW#LadyWBookClub.

Happy Halloween!