A ghost can rattle a chain, slip through a wall, or sit quietly beside a child who needs a friend. Children’s books have made wonderfully elastic use of the dead: some spirits deliver a delicious shiver, while others help the living reckon with loneliness, family history, injustice, and the difficult work of letting go. Even the shyest little sheet can reveal something worth seeing.
Drawing from Bookroo’s collection of 762 ghost books, our editors chose gentle first hauntings, inventive read-alouds, graphic novels, enduring scares, and atmospheric adventures for babies through middle grade. Begin with our fixed list of 10 favorites, then browse friendly apparitions, haunted houses, ghost hunters, and genuinely chilling stories by age.
A gentle house ghost leaves home, meets an imaginative girl, and must decide whether to tell her what he really is.
A toddler escapes a murderer and grows up among the ghosts of an old hillside graveyard.
A shy ghost longs to join the other monsters and finally makes himself heard through the music he loves.
Two sisters move to a foggy seaside town where the dead return to visit—and illness makes every encounter feel personal.
In a family of floaty sheet ghosts, one heavy little quilt ghost worries that being different will always hold him back.
In a London overrun by deadly Visitors, three young investigators accept the case of a famously haunted country house.
A girl insists she has never seen a ghost in her house while translucent pages reveal them everywhere around her.
After a police officer kills twelve-year-old Jerome, his ghost meets Emmett Till and watches the living decide what comes next.
A small witch discovers ghosts in her new house, then washes, dries, and puts every one of them to use.
Folklore, jump scares, macabre jokes, and instructions for performance fill this enduring campfire anthology.
Sturdy pages, smiling spirits, counting rhymes, and Halloween surprises with more boo than fright for ages 0–3.
A tiny ghost seeks her voice and a friend in a spooky barn.
Five ghosts seek a playful haunt as night falls.
A shy ghost struggles to fit in until a hidden talent emerges.
Count eerie guests at a haunted house, then watch them flee in fright.
A tiny pumpkin's journey home through a spooky street.
Tickle Halloween characters and follow felt trails for spooky fun.
Count spooky creatures on a Halloween adventure.
Join costumed animals on a Halloween adventure with a surprise ending.
Choose your Halloween adventure: eight legs or wings, skeleton or monster? Dive into spooky fun!
A schoolmaster faces a ghostly legend. Is it real or just a tale?
Help a little ghost find the perfect Halloween costume in a night of playful surprises.
Join a playful ghost in a spooky twist on a classic rhyme.
Shy ghosts, clever hauntings, visual surprises, and cozy chills for read-aloud ages 3–8.
A group of friends go on a camping trip, but things don't go as planned.
A ghost defies tradition to find his unique style.
Scrooge's icy heart melts with ghostly visits and Muppet mischief on Christmas Eve.
A ghost haunts the library, but a brave girl might know how to help him.
A ghost must choose between his dreams and the joy of home.
A ghostly baker haunts her old shop, but a new arrival might change everything.
A miser's heart is transformed by ghostly visits on Christmas Eve.
Ten ghosts must outwit a witch to reclaim their haunted home.
Discover spooky tales that will send shivers down your spine.
Four dragons go on a camping trip to Ghost Island, where they encounter a basilisk and her babies, and get caught up in a ghostly haunting.
Zack faces eerie events that challenge his disbelief in ghosts this Halloween.
Can Jackson find peace amid noisy neighbors and finally sleep soundly?
Spectral mysteries, haunted histories, serious scares, and ghost-hunting adventures for independent readers ages 7–14.
A boy faces a life-altering choice in an elevator ride haunted by ghosts of the past.
A ghostly friend lures children to a watery fate. Can Heather be saved?
Is a ghost haunting Boogle Bay? Otto and Uncle Tooth investigate.
A ghost story becomes real as Ollie races against time to escape a sinister specter.
Sam must face his fears when a ghost haunts his home.
A new home, eerie memories, and a brother acting strange. Can Harper uncover the haunting truth?
A teen sees a killer no one else can. Can she escape becoming his next victim?
Is the school bathroom haunted by a puddle ghost?
A young boy discovers that his new home is haunted by a malevolent spirit and that he has the power to communicate with the dead.
A mischievous spirit trapped in Toronto must use magic and technology to find its way home.
Sisters race against time to rescue their kidnapped sibling from ghostly pirates.
Two friends start a detective agency and take on their first case, a mysterious pug named Roy.
