Whether you are an educator of kids in a school or home setting or just a parent or caregiver trying to find ways to entertain kids Halloween themed books and movies are great for education and/or entertainment during the month of October.  The educational value of books is mostly based on giving kids something interesting to read in order to encourage them to learn to read and improve their reading skills.  Some of the books mentioned also offer educational value in other ways as they include aspects of other subjects such as math and history.  Most of the movies are more for entertainment, but certain ones do have educational value as well.

Books

Cheerios Halloween Play Book by Lee Wade:  This book is mostly geared towards babies starting with finger food, but it also teaches counting concepts and can be reenjoyed by older kids.

Disney's The Haunted House:  Disney themed story featuring Mickey and a Haunted House mystery.

Dora's Costume Party by Christine Ricci: Great short book for kids.  Teaches some basic Spanish and is an interactive text much like the show.

Halloween Mad Libs by Roger Price and Leonard Stern:  This is a fun Halloween themed version of the fill-in-the-blank work game.  This is a great way to teach kids the different types of words from nouns to adverbs and to have some laughs when you create funny stories.

Rugrats Tricked for Treats by Sarah Willson: Great picture book featuring the Rugrats.  In the book Angelica learns not to eat too many treats on Halloween.

Spiders (Nature Fact Files) by Barbara Taylor: Great book full of facts and pictures for interesting look at spiders for kids to read and learn.

Strawberry Shortcake: The Halloween Play by Eva Mason and John Huxtable: This is a great book for any Strawberry Shortcake fan.  It is good for reading to young kids and for reading with kids with basic reading skills.  In the book Strawberry Shortcake must keep her friends arguement over what special thing they should do for Halloween from ruining the holiday.

The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain: Very easy to read book.  Not exactly Halloween themed, but a nice book about the bears being scared and determining what scares them is not actually scary.

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat by Stan and Jan Berenstain: Great book that teaches about looks can be deceiving and how to safely trick-or-treat on Halloween.

The Case of the Tattooed Cat: This is a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen mystery chapter book.  It is about a lucky cat and a Halloween spelling bee.  Great for kids to read on their own or read together with them if they are not yet ready to read it themselves.

The Evertything Kids Puzzle and Activity Book by Beth L. Blair and Jennifer A. Ericsson:  This book is full of mazes, puzzles, and activity to offer many hours of entertainment.

The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Y Stemple: This book is written in a way that gives kids the feeling they are solving a mystery.  This book is a okay history book about this time period and relates to the witch aspect of Halloween.  Great book for kids that like mysteries and offers them a historical and problem solving learning experience.

Trick-or-Treat for Diabetes by Kim Gosselin:  This is a great book of ideas on how to make Haloween enjoyable for kids with diabetes.  This book is presented in the form of a fictional story.  It is not only good for kids with diabetes and their parents, but also for kids that have friends with diabetes and for classes with a student or students with diabetes.

Movies

Halloweentown High: This sequel to Halloweentown and Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge is a great no so scary Disney Halloween themed movie for the family.  This movie teaches about prejudice and acceptance through an attempt to integrate supernatural beings from Halloweentown into a high school in the mortal world.

Monster House:  This movie is slightly scary, so probably not suitable for some young kids.  A great entertainment movie about kids solving a mystery behind a house that has turned into a monster.

Scooby Doo Movies:  There are many different Scooby Doo movies available.  All of them are enjoyable and teach about logically solving mysteries and problems.  Just a few are Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby Doo in Pirates Ahoy!, Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase

Spooky House:  This movie is not very scary, as the spooky things are really illusion magic that is to some extent explained.  One of the themes of the movie is a group of kids dealing with a group of bully theives.  As part of the theme it teaches that fighting does not solve anything.  There is also an aspect of accepting differences, especially with the mixed race group of kids.

The Haunted History of Halloween (History Channel DVD): This is a History Channel special that goes back 3,000 years to explain the origins of the traditions of Halloween and how they have evolved into the modern holiday.  Despite its name it is really scary and can be appropriate for kids of all ages.

The Haunted Mansion: Great Disney movie.  It does have some scary moments, but also some funny moments.