Katie’s rad reads for the kiddos in October

So long, summer! For lots of us, October means more indoor time, and what better way to keep the kiddos' brains happy than to give them a great book. Take a look at Katie's spooky recommendations for this month!

Bye-bye summer! Fall has finally arrived!

Cooler weather. Warmer sweaters. Pumpkin spice. Excessive social media posts about pumpkin spice. Who doesn’t love this magical season?! For my kid recommendations this month, I’m sharing slightly spooky, extremely fun books for your readers. These three titles are perfect to snuggle up with as the weather cools down.

VAMPIRE VACATION (ages 4-8): words by Laura Lavoie, pictures by Micah Player

This book would have fit just as nicely into a summertime post, but I’ve been saving it for October. Fang is an adorable little vampire who is bored to death by his family’s usual summer vacation. He’s just dying to experience the fun and sun that the beach has to offer. But convincing a family of vamps is a tall order. Using creativity and cleverness, Fang tries to show his parents that trying new things might be a perfect fit for their next family trip!

Your kiddo will love seeing Fang work hard to win his family over to his way of thinking. Being small doesn’t mean you can’t have big plans! Micah Player’s illustrations will tug at your heartstrings, and Laura Lavoie’s puns will give adults and kids alike a good chuckle.

The Not-So Itty-Bitty Spiders (Olive & Beatrix #1) (Olive and Beatrix)

THE NOT-SO ITTY BITTY SPIDERS (ages 5-8): by Amy Marie Stadelmann

Not all kids are avid readers. One of my own children has struggled to find books she loves, but this one was a winner. Olive and Beatrix are twins, but they couldn’t be more different. Olive is a budding scientist, while Beatrix is…a witch! This oil-and-water pair are constantly at odds. When Beatrix ruins Olive and her best friend Eddie’s science project, Olive and Eddie vow revenge. But a bucket of spiders over Beatrix’s door ends up in a magical mess. A spell super-sizes the spiders. Will the girls use science, magic, or both to solve this arachnid accident?

This fast-paced story will appeal to lovers of magic and science alike. Kids with siblings close in age will appreciate the tension between the twins. After all, siblings don’t always get along, do they?

If you decide to read this book along with your child, you’ll especially enjoy Beatrix’s talking pet pig, Houston. His dry wit is a hilarious counterpoint to the mayhem the girls cause.

FUZZY MUD (ages 9-12): By Louis Sachar

Many of you may already be familiar with Louis Sachar’s work. His novel HOLES is required reading in many classrooms. I grew up with his hilarious WAYSIDE SCHOOL series. FUZZY MUD is certainly a departure from the crazy crack-ups at Wayside School.

Tamaya Dhilwaddi, a fifth grader in a prestigious private school, is a focused and dedicated student. Her friends tease her for being a “goodie-goodie,” but Tamaya doesn’t let that sway her dedication. Tamaya’s seventh grader neighbor, Marshall, walks her to and from school everyday, but recently Marshall hasn’t seemed like himself.

When Tamaya and Marshall cut through the woods one afternoon to avoid Chad, the school bully, things go horribly wrong. Chad pursues them deep into the woods, and Tamaya must defend Marshall by shoving some strange mud into Chad’s face. Back at home a mysterious and painful rash develops on Tamaya’s hand where she touched the mud. Even more distressing, Chad goes missing. It seems Tamaya and Marshall were the last ones to see him alive.

As Tamaya works to solve the mystery of the mud (and Chad’s disappearance), the reader will consider the complicated ways we relate to each other and the world around us.