The Ghosts Went Floating by Kim Normal, illustrated by Jay Fleck. Ages 3-6. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2020. Review copy provided by my local library.
Are you as ready for Halloween as I am? I don't even know if we will really have a Halloween (at least not like we're used to, I'm sure), but for some reason I am all about decorating and celebrating it early this year. Maybe it feels like something to look forward to? Anyway, it was a lot of fun the week I got to sit down and order some new Halloween books for my library and this was my favorite one.
The text is a variation of The Ants Go Marching, which is fun since you can sing it. Instead of "Hoorah, hoorah", it says "BOO-rah! BOO-rah", which I think is super cute. And instead of ants, each spread is a different ghosty or beasty. The book is far from scary with super cute illustrations, making this a very gentle monster book that's good for really young kids. I'm going to buy it for my youngest nieces, ages 2 and 4.
Most of the book is not Halloween specific - it's only the last two spreads the mention where the ghosts and creatures are marching to - your street for trick or treat! And then the very last spread shows all the monsters enjoying a Halloween party together. So if you wanted to use this for storytime, it could easily fit into a monster or slightly-spooky themed storytime just by skipping the last couple of spreads. It would also make a super cute flannel board story. Although it does count up to 10 different creatures marching together, you could definitely cut down on the pieces by just creating one piece for each creature.
Pick this one up if you're looking for a Halloween book for a very young child on your list!