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The Graveyard Book
By: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: Library of Congress Catologing-in-Publication Data
Copyright: 2008
Newbery Medal Winner 2009
Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 5th or 6th grade
Brief Synopsis: Nobody Owen's parents and sister were brutally murdered when he was just a baby. Jack, the murderer, tried chasing Bod down the hill to finish the job and kill the whole family, but he lost sight of where he went. Bod ended up crawling to a nearby graveyard, and was taken in by the ghosts and spirits that lived there. We get to experience Bod's journey as he learns and grows up in a cemetary. His life is adventured filled because he is a very curious boy He seems like a normal boy to those he loves, but the outside is a very unknown and dangerous place for Bod to be.
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About the Author:
Neil Gaiman is known for his post-modern graphic novels and stories. Neil grew up in England and now lives in Minnesota. He has written numerous award winning books including Coraline, Sandman, and The Graveyard Book. He grew up loving to read, and always carried around books with the genres of science fiction and fantasy. He began writing comics after high school when he could no longer find comics suited for a more mature audience. I think that Gaiman was inspired by a lot of the stories he read as a child since he was drawn to science fiction and fantasy genres. In The Graveyard Book Gaiman creates a very dark and dangerous setting that draws the reader in to see what happens to our young character, Bod.Theme: Finding Oneself
Death and Supernatural
Pushing Boundaries
Growing up and Exploration
Pre-Reading Activities:
-Have the students do an activity dealing with mood. This book creates a very clear sense of a dark and eerie mood, and the students should be able to point out the language the author uses to create this. For the activity pass out a mood card to each student; examples, cheerful, gloomy, meloncholy, suspenseful, etc. The students then go to see who has the same mood card as them. In their groups, the students will make a list of words that will help them write a story with the mood on their card. After 10-15 minutes creating a list the groups will write a one page story together creating the mood from their card in the story.
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Post-Reading Activities:
- During the story the student can create a vocabulary word list of words that are unknown to them and will define them as they are reading. When they come back to the class they can share the vocabulary words that they had difficulty with.
- Also students can complete their mood sheet during and after they read a chapter in the book. On the mood sheet they will pick out the words in the chapter that have created a eerie, dangerous, or dark mood. They will bring this back to class to discuss with the whole class.
Reflection: This story is a great book for students to see a kid grow up in a world very different from their own. They can remove themselves from their world and put themselves in Bod's shoes. The Graveyard Book is a fantasy story with ghosts and ghouls and a boy living in the middle of it all. Above all this is an adventure story of a young boy discovering things that are forbidden of him. Students can relate to him in this way because they probably have done things also that they were told not to. They can share how their life relates to this book in class discussions.
I think the illustrations in this chapter book really add to the mood already created with the words. The students can create a picture in their mind of hat they are reading and this can be enhanced by the pictures throughout the book.
Gaiman won the Newbery Medal in 2009 for this book and I can see why this book is seen as "distinguished." It is very well written and even though Bod lives in a creepy graveyard he still has qualities and fears that we can all relate to. This story offers many ways to interpret and practice many literary skills with students.
Links:
Neil Gaiman
Biography
Book Information
Newbery Award
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