Bedtime for Boo

Mickie Matheis flips the haunting premise on its head — Boo is the littlest ghost, not the scariest one, and the story is really about a small child (of any species) who gets too tired to finish the night. The ghost framing is gentle enough that most children will find it more charming than spooky, and the warm parent-child dynamic at the end is what stays with readers. Parents of children who have asked for the same book five nights running will recognize the humor. The honest caveat is that a few very young readers found the 'listen to sounds in the dark' wind-down a little unsettling, so gauge your child. Households that prefer to keep Halloween imagery out entirely will want to pass.