The Graveyard Book

Newberry Award Winner

Author: Neil Gaiman  Illustrator: Dave McKean

Grade Level: 5th-8th grade

Summary: The Graveyard Book opens with a scary scene of a family being stabbed to death; the only survivor is the 18 month old baby. The baby toddles to the graveyard and some of the ghosts find him and decide to keep him safe from the killer by letting him live in their tomb. They name him “Nobody” (Bod) and he grows up seeing both the living and the dead. The story goes through what Bod goes through as he grows into a teenager and the dangers he finds when he leaves his home among the graves.

Read Aloud: I would read pages 14-19 out loud because this is when the ghosts find the baby at the graveyard and decide to protect him from the killer.

Classroom Uses:

·         Have the students write their own epitaph poem.

·         Group students and have them do more research on the different beings that also lived in the graveyard. (werewolves, ghosts, ghouls, witches)

ESOL Strategies:

·         Draw a picture of Bod and list all the supernatural powers he has around his picture.

·         Discuss how the graveyard comes together to raise this particular child.

Personal Opinion: I didn’t think the plot in this book was developed enough, they never fully give an explanation of who killed Bod’s family and why. The story was very sweet though and interesting but was not explained enough.