For a read-aloud treat, you can't beat this slew of spooky, funny books, just right for Halloween — and all year long.

Bossy Dolores Starbuckle needs help in Andy Shane and the Pumpkin Trick (Harcourt, 2006, ages 4 to 7, $13.99). Tricksters keep smashing the Halloween pumpkins on her front porch. She and long-suffering friend, Andy, concoct several plans, including dressing as ghosts in flowered sheets, to foil the vandals. Nothing works, until Andy uses his marbles (the round, glass kind) in an ingenious scheme that surprises the mean kids and Dolores. Funny and fresh, this early-reader shows two very different kids combining their strengths to solve a problem. With consummate skill, author Jennifer Richard Jacobson and illustrator Abby Carter show how quiet Andy learns to hold his own against larger-than-life Dolores.

Tension abounds in Booville when a spooky slob and a bat-winged neatnik decide to throw a party on the very same night. Boris and Bella (Harcourt, 2004, ages 4 to 8, $6 pbk.) is a hilarious study in contrasts. Persnickety Boris Kleanitoff scolds his grimy neighbor, Bella Legrossi, for "the crusty old cauldrons" in her "cluttered yard." She, in turn, carps about his ever-sweeping "bewitched broomsticks." But when the invitees to their separate parties opt for one given by Harry Beastie, the two decide to crash the bash. A shared dance, a "bubbly cup of ghoul drool" and a midnight exchange of "snaggletoothed smiles" bring an epiphany. Boris and Bella realize the key to enduring friendship is to accept another's foibles while toning down one's own. Kids will delight in the lush language served up by Carolyn Crimi while poring over the wonderfully gruesome details in Gris Grimly's ink-and-watercolor illustrations. A monster mash of fun!

A fire-breathing beast roams the living room at night. Sophie lies in bed and listens to it rattle and slink. Acclaimed author Hilary McKay gives little ones a monster tale with a reassuring ending in There's a Dragon Downstairs (Margaret K. McElderry/Simon and Schuster, 2005, ages 2 to 6, $16.95). Four times, Sophie decides to confront the thing — with her parents, as a knight in homemade armor, as a firefighter with water squirter and as a bejeweled princess — but each time it disappears. Finally, she decides to go as herself, friendly Sophie, and creeps downstairs to discover … the family cat on its nightly prowl. Cheery watercolors by Amanda Harvey keep the story from being too scary even at its most suspenseful. The message is subtle yet empowering: Confront your fears and they shrink, from dragon to pussycat.

Caldecott medalist Uri Shulevitz captures midnight magic in So Sleepy Story (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2006, ages 1 to 4, $16). A "sleepy sleepy boy in a sleepy sleepy bed" dreams that the things of his house — chairs, dishes, pictures — begin to rock and sway. The simple, poetic text speaks to children's curiosity about the night: What happens when sleep takes over? The blue-hued illustrations provide the answer: Inanimate things come alive. Dishes sport faces and cavort on shelves. Smiling chairs join in the fun. But all settles down when the boy opens his eyes once, takes in the scene and drifts back to sleep. A bedtime story par excellence. Little ones will love gazing at the mysterious pictures while listening to the lulling repetition of "sleepy."

Treat young readers to a gustatory delight with The Mice of Bistrot des Sept Frères (Tanglewood Press, 2006, ages 3 to 8, $15.95). In this fanciful tale, seven mouse brothers and their little sister, Petite Michelle, assist their father, Chef Marcel, who owns the finest bistro in France. Their cheese soup wins the country's best soup award every year, thanks to a secret ingredient known only to Chef Marcel. But when the judge arrives unexpectedly one day, chaos ensues. The chef dashes to the store for more secret ingredient and the brothers race about, dropping bowls of cream and bottles of cider. It is up to Michelle to save the day — and the soup — with her own secret ingredient. With her lively text and expressive illustrations, Marie LeTourneau has created the recipe for a winning picture book, liberally spiced with French phrases and sprinkled with a helpful pronunciation guide.

Another critter with a taste for the high life trades pizza crumbs for presidential cuisine in Wilky the White House Cockroach (G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin, 2006, ages 3 to 8, $16.99). Acclaimed cartoonist Howie Schneider brings his trademark humor to this tale of a cockroach in search of better things. The bug pays a surprise visit to the Oval Office and then manages to elude the Minister of Dark and Dirty Places, the Chairman of the Senate Tiny Problems Committee and even the Exterminator General by posing as a dessert raisin, a polka-dot on a dress and a tiny island on a map. Kids and adults alike will cheer as Wilky elicits the President's promise of lifelong protection and engineers a "remarkable truce between man and bug." Especially inspired are Schneider's depictions of red-tied bureaucrats, diplomats with comb-overs and all the "advanced technology of the strongest nation on earth" used to hunt down a little insect. Perfect for family read-alouds, Wilky's adventures will thrill little ones, while the witty political satire hits home with older kids and parents.

Just in time for candy season comes The Chocolate Touch (HarperTrophy, 1952, ages 7 to 10, $5.99) by Patrick Skene Catling. Though published 54 years ago, this funny chapter book still eloquently addresses the sweetness and sorrow of an unbridled id. John Midas loves candy — "boiled candy, cotton candy, licorice all-sorts, old-fashioned toffee … and, above all, chocolates." He eschews nutritious food, lies to his parents and begs from his friends to obtain the sweet stuff. But then a magic coin buys him a single piece of exquisite chocolate, and John's dream comes true. Everything touched by his lips turns to chocolate, from his breakfast orange juice to the pencil he nervously nibbles at school. The suspense mounts as John's sweet gift begins to sour. His beloved trumpet turns to chocolate, his best friend's birthday party is ruined and a single kiss changes his mother into a chocolate statue. Only when he takes steps to change himself does the spell reverse. This cautionary tale will leave kids chuckling and perhaps rethinking their own overconsumption, whether of candy, computer games or TV.

Bestselling author Mary Pope Osborne spins a mysterious story in Haunted Waters (Candlewick, 2006, ages 12 and up, $14.99). Based on a German fairy tale, this beautifully written novel explores Lord Huldbrand's infatuation with an elusive young woman named Undine. Though loving and kind, she seems more wild spirit than human. Drawn to water, she tirelessly swims ocean and river and bathes in his castle fountain. Questions plague Huldbrand: Why does a ghostly figure follow Undine? Where did she come from? Why do the waters rise up when she is angry? While watching her swim, Huldbrand reflects on how easily Undine seems to forget her connection to land and to him: "Nothing seemed more forlorn or ominous to me than the ocean at night. I was frightened by its relentless flow and its colossal indifference." But when Huldbrand rebuffs Undine and decides to wed another, he unleashes forces that will affect him "through an eternity of water." A compelling and thought-provoking page-turner.