Pleasant chills are rife this month for readers of five to eight. Angela McAllister’s A World Full of Spooky Stories (Frances Lincoln) is an enjoyably gruesome compendium, including eyeball-stealing witches, Baba Yaga behind her fence of skulls, and a deadly soup of poisoned wolf’s brains, all brought to life by Madalina Andronic’s vibrantly coloured illustrations.

Readers with a taste for haunted history will enjoy the art and design duo Carnovsky’s Illuminightmare (Wide-Eyed), fourth in the Illumi- series that reveals different elements of a scene according to which colour of lens is used to view it. Here red shows “earthly” happenings, but blue (which needs a strong light behind it) exposes the supernatural secrets of sites such as the Black Forest, the Tower of London and the Bhangarh Fort. Lucy Brownridge’s spare text gives the spine-chilling details.

For a non-spectral excursion, visit a seaside B&B in Sophie Dahl’s Madame Badobedah (Walker), illustrated with airy, light-hearted charm by Lauren O’Hara. Mettlesome Mabel encounters a suspicious guest: a flamboyant old lady with piles of fascinating luggage, toffee-apple-red hair and rude, secretive manners. Is she right to guess that Madam Badobedah is a super-villain? This longer-form picture book, tapping astutely into the imaginative life of an adventurous child, is lovely both to read and to listen to.

Beast Feast. Photograph: Emma Yarlett

Atinuke’s Africa: Amazing Africa (Walker) is a gorgeous walkthrough of all its countries, celebrating the history, languages and culture of the continent. It features evocative details – Tunisians’ love of sweet mint tea, the drumming tradition of Burundi – as well as brief and brilliant sections on African hairstyles and religions. Mouni Feddag’s explosive illustrations are sun-drenched and filled with heady colour.

Adventurers of eight-plus will plunge into Jamie Littler’s Frostheart (Puffin), about a boy awaiting his missing parents in a remote, frozen outpost, trapped by the lurking monsters of the Snow Sea. Though Ash possesses Song Weaver magic, he’s forbidden to sing lest he rouse a terrible creature from the ice; when he breaks this rule, he finds himself swept away on the Frostheart, a dashing sleigh-ship with a courageous motley crew. But should Ash trust his taciturn guardian, or the charismatic sailor who wants him to unleash his Song? Littler’s debut is wild, funny, lavishly illustrated and filled with excitement.

Gerald Killingworth’s wry, grisly The Dead World of Lanthorne Ghules (Pushkin) boasts a splendidly stroppy narrator, Edwin, who despises being a big brother; so much so that he tells his weird new penpal Lanthorne all about how annoying his baby sister is. But Lanthorne comes from a frightening world beyond Edwin’s, whose inhabitants eat rotten food (and worse). When Lanthorne’s Aunt Necra kidnaps baby Mandoline, Edwin must plunge into this dark, insidious place to retrieve her. Wry, grisly and pleasingly grotesque, the story is also notable for the robust expletive “Armpits!

The Little Island by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Robert Starling

Emma Carroll, meanwhile, spins a fascinating story of 17th-century witch-hunting and wild waters in The Somerset Tsunami (Faber). When gutsy, unconventional Fortune is forced to leave home after catching the witch-hunter’s eye, she disguises herself as a boy and goes into service at a manor house by the sea, narrowly surviving a fearsome tsunami. The hunters, however, remain on the scent. Fast-paced adventure and fantastically eerie writing add up to an evocative and intensely readable yarn.

For picture book readers in search of humorous scares, Emma Yarlett’s Beast Feast (Walker) features a hungry Beast who has captured a tasty child, and invited all his friends to share; but quick-witted Dinner has other ideas. Letter-flaps to lift, delicious and disgusting dishes, and the development of an unlikely friendship combine to create a riotous picture book party.

Elsewhere, The Little Island (Andersen) by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Robert Starling eloquently illustrates the pitfalls of isolationism. On a farm where animals are free to work together, the geese who live on a small island decide to banish interlopers and peck away their footbridge (to the ducks’ dismay). With no horses to help gather the harvest, times are hard, but the islanders manage – until the foxes come. Clear, comic and ending on a hopeful note, it’s a helpful book for discussing Brexit with young children.

Finally, from picture book dream team Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egneus comes Tibble and Grandpa (Oxford), a poignant, sweet look at grief and recovery. Tibble wants to talk to Grandpa, but Grandpa is always gardening. Eventually, however, Tibble’s persistence wins Grandpa round, and they share favourite sandwiches, experiences – and memories of Granny, whom Grandpa desperately misses. Egneus’s warm, rich light-filled collages and Meddour’s perfectly judged, very simple text effortlessly convey sorrow and abiding love.

Teenagers roundup

Furious Thing

by Jenny Downham, David Fickling, £12.99

Lex is out of control, prone to violent outbursts and fits of fury; her temper spoils every special occasion and her school results are in freefall. But is Lex a problem child who should be diagnosed, dosed up and subdued – or is the real problem her mother’s bullying fiance? A painfully enthralling, fiercely feminist account of emotional abuse and appropriate rage.

The Deathless Girls

by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Orion, £12.99

On their divining day, the day their fate should have been determined, 17-year-old twins Lil and Kizzy are torn from their community. Forced to serve in the kitchens of a Transylvanian nobleman’s castle, Lil grows close to Mira, a fellow slave – until the Dragon, who takes girls as gifts, changes the twins’ lives for ever. The brides of Dracula story is reimagined in this darkly romantic, gothic YA debut.

The Places I’ve Cried in Public

by Holly Bourne, Usborne, £7.99

Amelie is talented but desperately shy; starting out at her new college, she’s amazed when popular Reese begins pursuing her. Eventually, though, she realises that his love is interwoven with abuse. Revisiting the places where he made her cry, she gradually comes to terms with the trauma he inflicted. Funny and sad, this book urges girls to know their own worth.

Pet

by Akwaeke Emezi, Faber, £7.99

In the utopian town of Lucille, where Jam, a transgender girl, has lived happily all her life, everyone knows monsters no longer exist. When a terrifying creature emerges from a painting, however, Jam learns how evil can flourish when complacency allows it. A powerfully original story, with a truly shocking denouement, by the acclaimed author of Freshwater.