There's a Ghost In This House
by Oliver Jeffers
Picture book · ages 4–8 · grades K–3 · 400L · 2021
A charmingly silly take on the 'ghost in the house' trope that turns mild spooky vibes into pure absurdity without any real threat.
For a reader who just finished
Books like Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow
after Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow by Ryan T. Higgins · ages 6–9
Picture book · grades 1–4 · 450L
A fast-paced, visually driven adventure that turns a classic 'haunted house' trope into a funny mystery about perception and bravery.
Same style
Yertle the turtle
by Dr. Seuss
Picture book · ages 4–8 · grades K–3 · 590L · 1988
A surprisingly political Seuss story about quiet resistance to tyranny; the burp is funny enough to distract from the heavy-handed moral, which actually works.
Boo's Haunted Sunglasses
by Martin Boo
Picture book · ages 4–8 · grades K–3 · 350L · 2023
A lighthearted Halloween-adjacent read that keeps the 'scary' elements cartoonish and fun rather than genuinely frightening.
Stretch them up
So You Want to Be President?
by David Small
Picture book · ages 4–8 · grades K–3 · 620L · 2000
A Caldecott winner that makes U.S. history genuinely funny — kids laugh at the absurdity while absorbing real facts about presidents in a format that's pure delight to reread.
Seabird
Picture book · ages 6–10 · grades 1–5 · 620L · 1978
A masterpiece of patient observation disguised as a picture book—the illustrations reward close, repeated looking and the text respects a child's intelligence without talking down.
Paddle-to-the-Sea
Picture book · ages 6–10 · grades 1–5 · 620L · 1993
A quiet masterpiece—the narrative voice lets the illustrations and geographic detail carry the story; kids absorb how water, seasons, and ecosystems interconnect without ever feeling lectured.
Complementing on naming feelings
A Place Inside of Me
by Noa Denmon
Picture book · ages 4–8 · grades K–3 · 480L
A stunning emotional architecture book — the metaphor of internal rooms for different feelings sticks with kids long after the read, and the illustrations make abstract emotions concrete without sentimentalizing them.
Laughing out Loud, I Fly: Poems in English and Spanish
Verse novel · ages 6–10 · grades 1–5 · 520L · 1998
A masterwork of bilingual wordplay that reads aloud with infectious energy—kids feel seen in the code-switching, and the poems actively teach that two languages in one mind is a superpower, not a problem.
Blue
Picture book · ages 4–8 · grades K–3 · 550L · 2022
A lyrical and visually stunning way to teach cultural heritage without it feeling like a lecture; the 'blue' motif is clever enough for older kids but accessible for toddlers.
We'd skip — for now
My father's dragon
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
A step up — ages 9–12 · grades 4–7
Skip it if your child has strong separation anxiety or is unsettled by a young child away from parents for an extended journey.