Three Little Witches and the Spooky Old House by Peggy Archer, illustrated by Gaia Bordicchia (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 40 pages, ages 3-6). An abandoned house sits at the end of a long, dark road, all alone until three witches make their way to the front door carrying a broom, a sack, and a pot. Inside, they get to work cleaning up the house, building a fire, and casting mysterious spells. Mice, bugs, and ghosts emerge from the shadows and watch them work. Finally, there’s a knock on the door, and the witches greet their friends: an ogre, a mummy, and a goblin. Everyone sits down at the table to enjoy a fall treat of popcorn and cider inside the cozy–and now happy–house.

I had kind of mixed feelings about this book. I really liked all the onomatopoeia and the repetition, both of which would make it a good choice for preschool kids, but the text was written in verses that felt like they should rhyme. My other objection was the traditional gender roles, with the girl witches cleaning, cooking, and serving the food to their male-presenting monster friends. I did love the illustrations, and if you’re looking for a non-scary Halloween book that includes witches, haunted houses, and monsters, this definitely fits the bill.

The Broom of Doom by Becky Davies, illustrated by Thomas Elliott (Union Square Kids, 40 pages, ages 4-8). “This is a story about justice…It is not a story about jealousy at all,” begins the narrator, who turns out to be a witch’s broom. The broom is tired of being in the background all the time, and when it gets its hand on the witch’s wish potion, it’s time to turn the tables. The broom wishes first to be a star and gets turned into a literal star, only to feel invisible again in the sky with so many other stars. Its second wish is to be as famous as the witch, but this turns out to be a burden when the public expects the same level of spells that the witch can provide. Finally, the broom wishes to go back to the old way of being a witch’s broom and is relieved when it turns into a regular broom again. There’s a funny twist on the last couple pages that will leave the reader questioning if it really is the end of the story.

Here’s another non-scary Halloween choice with a cluelessly funny narrator and a classic three wishes sequence that could be used as a compare and contrast with other stories. The comic-style illustrations will appeal to fans of Dan Santat and Pete Oswald. I missed the first book by this team, but if you enjoy this, you can also check out The Mushroom of Doom.