The Graveyard Book

Gaiman, N. (2008). The graveyard book. New York, New York: Harper Collins. Tragedy strikes in the very beginning, leaving a mother, father, and older sister dead and the 18 month old son alive and wondering about. Making his way to the graveyard up the hill, the toddler is taken in by the ghost of the graveyard and raised among them. He is given the name Nobody Owens, but goes by “Bod". Each chapter presents a new lesson that Bod must deal with and over come. His guardian Silas provides the essential items for Bod to survive, food, books, and clothing. Gaiman presents a action packed story of Bod learning his way through the graveyard. Gaiman turns things around when the murder of Bod’s family returns to take him. Gaiman uses simple black and white illustrations throughout the book to provide an image to readers as they captivate themselves within the pages. Teachers can use discussion questions for older readers to promote writing assignment, write poetry from Bod’s point of view, create a headstone for Bod’s family, illustrate one of Bod’s risky adventures, and research the different characters from within the book and present that character to the class and why they think that character is important to the story. Students can compare and contrast a childhood favorite, The Jungle Book, with The Graveyard Book, over characters, setting, and theme of the stories. Attached is a trailer from the author’s website giving a brief description of his book. http://www.mousecircus.com/extras.aspx