Halloween has always been about a little bit of magic.
The pumpkins glowing on doorsteps. Choosing a costume weeks in advance. Heading outside after dark with a bucket in hand. Comparing sweets with friends. And, for one night at least, getting to pretend you’re a witch, vampire, ghost, superhero or whatever else your imagination can conjure up.
But if you’re looking for a Halloween gift for kids that makes the excitement last a little longer, there’s a new kind of treat to discover this year.
The short answer
The best Halloween gift for kids is usually the one that stretches the excitement out beyond 31 October. A personalised Halloween colouring storybook does exactly that: your child becomes the illustrated hero of the story, colours the pictures themselves in the run-up to the big night, and keeps the finished book long after the sweets have gone.
Trick or Treat has partnered with Magic Moon Books, creators of personalised colouring storybooks for children. Upload a photo and your child becomes the illustrated star of their very own adventure.
It’s an especially lovely fit for Halloween.
Meet Magic Moon Books
Magic Moon Books creates personalised children’s books with a difference: each custom colouring storybook is made around the child receiving it.
Rather than simply putting your child’s name into an existing story, Magic Moon Books uses their photo to create an illustrated version of them. That character then appears throughout their own personalised colouring storybook.
The result is a story they don’t just appear in — they get to bring it to life themselves.
Children can read their adventure, colour the illustrations and see themselves taking centre stage on every page.
You can even add siblings, friends or other family members to the story, making it a particularly lovely Halloween gift for brothers, sisters or children who always head out trick or treating together.
For Halloween, a Magic Moon Books book makes a thoughtful alternative to more sweets or another plastic toy: it gives children a story where they are the hero, plus an activity they can enjoy in the run-up to the big night.
Magic Moon Books at a glance
- What it is: a personalised storybook and colouring book in one
- Choose a theme: magical, space, birthday and pirate adventures are available
- Inside: 41 pages — 20 story pages, 20 colouring pages and a dedication page
- Star of the show: up to 5 people illustrated from your own photos
- Best for: children roughly 3 to 10 years old
- Price: paperback from £18.99 with free standard shipping, with hardback and digital upgrades available
Why we think it’s such a brilliant Halloween gift
There are plenty of Halloween gifts for children.
More sweets? They’ll probably say yes.
Another plastic spider? Almost certainly.
A Halloween mug? Perhaps one for the grown-ups.
But the best Halloween gifts add something to the excitement of the occasion itself.
That’s what we love about the idea behind Magic Moon Books.
For children, Halloween isn’t really about October 31st. It’s the anticipation that makes it so exciting.
It’s deciding what they’re going to dress up as. Decorating the house. Carving the pumpkin. Watching the neighbourhood slowly fill with cobwebs and ghosts. Talking endlessly about where they’re going trick or treating.
A personalised Halloween book becomes part of all that build-up.
Except this time, instead of reading about somebody else’s Halloween adventure, they discover themselves inside it.
Their name.
Their face.
Their adventure.
And that’s rather more exciting than another bag of chocolate eyeballs.
A personalised Halloween book that’s actually personalised
Personalised books for children aren’t new. But there are very different levels of personalisation.
| Level of personalisation | What your child actually gets |
|---|---|
| Name only | Their name printed into somebody else’s story |
| Pick-a-character | A hair colour or a stock character that vaguely resembles them |
| Illustrated from a photo | A character drawn from their actual likeness, on the cover and on every page — plus up to four other people they love |
Magic Moon Books goes considerably further. You upload photos of your child and Magic Moon Books creates an illustrated character based on their actual likeness. That character appears throughout the book, including on the full-colour cover.
You can also add up to four other people to join them in the adventure. That could mean a Halloween book starring two siblings together, a group of cousins, or your child and their best friend.
There’s also space to add your own personal dedication inside the book.
It turns what could have been a standard Halloween activity book into something completely unique to the child receiving it.
They don’t just read their Halloween story. They colour it.
This might be our favourite bit.
Magic Moon Books combines a personalised children’s storybook and colouring book in one. The cover is printed in full colour, while inside the book the illustrated scenes are black and white, ready for your child to colour themselves.
So rather than finishing the story and putting it straight back on the bookshelf, there’s another layer to the experience.
They can choose the colours. They can work their way through the different scenes. They can make their version of the story look completely different from anybody else’s.
And once they’ve finished, they’ve effectively helped create their own Halloween book.
For children who love colouring, drawing and making things, it’s a particularly lovely combination.
The Halloween gift that lasts longer than the sweets
We love Halloween sweets as much as anyone. But their life expectancy after a successful night of trick or treating isn’t particularly long.
What’s left on 1 November
- The pumpkin eventually goes in the bin.
- The decorations come down.
- The costume gets packed away.
- And somehow, despite returning home with a bucket containing approximately three years’ worth of confectionery, the sweets disappear too.
- The book stays.
A personalised Halloween book is different. It becomes a little snapshot of that particular Halloween.
Children can colour it in during the run-up to the big night, read it at bedtime and come back to it after Halloween is over. Then it goes on the bookshelf.
Years later, when they’re considerably too grown-up to admit they were once obsessed with dressing as a vampire, there’s still a book showing their miniature illustrated self having a Halloween adventure.
We think that’s rather special.
A brilliant Halloween gift for siblings, too
Finding a Halloween gift for siblings can be tricky. Buy them exactly the same thing and it doesn’t feel particularly personal. Buy different things and you risk an immediate investigation into who received the better present.
A personalised book gives you another option.
Magic Moon Books can include up to five people in one story, so brothers and sisters can head off on the adventure together. That makes it a fun choice for families who want one shared Halloween gift rather than lots of little presents.
It could also make a lovely surprise before trick or treating: give them their book, read the story together, then get into costume and head out on an adventure of your own.
A lovely alternative to a Halloween treat box
Halloween gift boxes have become increasingly popular, especially for younger children. They’re often filled with things like Halloween pyjamas, stickers, colouring activities, small toys and, inevitably, sweets.
A personalised Halloween colouring book works brilliantly as the main present in a Halloween box — particularly because it combines a story and an activity.
Build a Halloween box around it
- Their personalised Halloween story as the main present
- A fresh set of colouring pencils or crayons
- Halloween pyjamas for the night before
- One small sweet treat, because it is Halloween
Or skip the box entirely. Sometimes one thoughtful present beats ten plastic ones.
Made for children who really, really love Halloween
You know the ones.
It’s September and they’ve already decided on their costume. They point out every pumpkin they see. They want to know precisely how many sleeps there are until Halloween. They consider fake cobwebs an entirely acceptable year-round interior design choice.
For those children, a personalised Halloween story hits differently.
Halloween already invites children to imagine themselves somewhere extraordinary. For one night, the normal rules change. The streets look different. Everyone is in costume. Ordinary houses become haunted houses. Neighbours appear at their doors clutching enormous bowls of sweets.
A story in which the child themselves becomes the hero taps into exactly the same imagination.
One Halloween adventure happens outside their front door. The other happens inside the pages of their book.
How to create a Magic Moon Books personalised book
Creating one is surprisingly simple.
Step 1 — Choose your stars
Decide who you’d like to appear in the story and upload clear photos of them. Magic Moon Books uses those photos to create their illustrated characters.
Step 2 — Make it theirs
Add your child’s name, include friends or family members, and write a personal dedication for the inside cover.
Step 3 — Preview before you buy
This is one of the cleverest parts. You can flip through a full preview of the personalised book and see your child’s character inside their adventure before deciding whether to order.
Step 4 — It arrives at your door
Once you’re happy, the book is professionally printed and delivered to you. Magic Moon books are available as paperback or hardback, with paperback starting from £18.99 including standard shipping.
Who is a personalised Halloween book best for?
Magic Moon Books recommends its personalised books for children roughly 3 to 10 years old, although the sweet spot will naturally depend on the child.
For younger children, much of the magic comes from recognising themselves and their family inside a real book and colouring the pictures. As they get older, children can become much more involved in reading the story themselves and creating the finished pages.
We think it’s particularly worth considering if you’re searching for:
- a unique Halloween gift for a child
- a personalised Halloween gift
- a Halloween present for siblings
- a Halloween colouring book
- a personalised storybook for kids
- a Halloween gift that isn’t sweets
- a keepsake Halloween present
- a special gift for a child who loves Halloween
It’s also a nice option for grandparents, godparents, aunts and uncles looking for something a little more personal than another toy.
Why Trick or Treat has partnered with Magic Moon Books
Trick or Treat is all about making Halloween feel magical for families.
We built the Trick or Treat map to help families discover the houses, streets and neighbourhoods joining in with Halloween — and to make that brilliant childhood experience of heading out trick or treating even better.
So Magic Moon Books felt like a natural fit. Both are built around the same simple idea:
Halloween should feel magical when you’re a child.
The Trick or Treat map helps you find the adventure waiting outside. Magic Moon Books puts your child inside an adventure of their own.
And we rather like the idea of doing both.
Halloween gift questions, answered
What is the best Halloween gift for kids?
The best Halloween gifts add to the excitement rather than ending with it. A personalised Halloween storybook works well because children can enjoy it during the build-up, on the night itself and long afterwards — unlike sweets, costumes and decorations, which are all gone by early November.
What is a personalised Halloween book?
It’s a children’s book made specifically for one child. With Magic Moon Books, you upload a photo and the child is drawn as an illustrated character who appears on the cover and throughout the story, so they are the hero rather than a reader.
How much does a personalised Halloween book cost?
Magic Moon Books paperbacks start from £18.99, and that price includes free standard shipping. Hardback and digital versions are available as upgrades.
What age is a personalised Halloween colouring book for?
Magic Moon Books recommends its books for children roughly 3 to 10 years old. Younger children love recognising themselves and colouring the pictures; older children get more from reading the story themselves and finishing the pages carefully.
Can you put more than one child in the same book?
Yes. Up to five people can be illustrated into the same story, so siblings, cousins or best friends can share one adventure — which makes it a straightforward answer to the problem of buying a Halloween gift for siblings.
Can you see the book before you buy it?
Yes. Magic Moon Books lets you flip through a full preview of the finished personalised book before you order, so you can see your child’s character in the story first.
Can I choose a story theme?
Yes. Magic Moon Books currently offers magical, space, birthday and pirate adventures. Whichever theme you choose, the book is 41 pages long, with 20 story pages, 20 colouring pages and a dedication page.
Ready to make them the star of Halloween?
If you’re searching for the best Halloween gift for kids, we’d argue that the best presents aren’t necessarily the biggest ones. They’re the ones children immediately understand were made especially for them.
Seeing your own name on a book is exciting. Seeing your own face staring back at you from the cover is something else entirely.
And discovering that you’re the hero of the story?
That’s Halloween magic.
Create a personalised Halloween adventure starring your child
Upload a photo, add up to five people, preview the whole book, then order it. Paperback from £18.99 with free standard shipping.
And when the big night arrives, find out which houses near you are joining in on the Trick or Treat map.
Trick or Treat has partnered with Magic Moon Books. We only ever feature things we’d be happy to give to our own families, and links to Magic Moon Books in this article are partner links.