The Graveyard Book

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book? This collection of stories, which was published in 1894, has been adapted into numerous books and films. What does the title suggest it might be about? Why does this work continue to inspire audiences over 100 years after its publication?

Teaching Suggestion: As its title suggests, Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book shares many elements with The Jungle Book: an orphaned human child is raised in a natural setting by creatures that are not really human. One interesting approach to Gaiman’s text is to consider his purpose in paralleling Kipling’s story in this way. This prompt allows you to judge students’ background knowledge about Kipling’s classic text, while the resources below may help fill in any gaps. During your introduction of this prompt, you might wish to explain the term “pastiche” to students and note that the book they are about to read is a pastiche of The Jungle Book.

• The Jungle Book on SuperSummary includes a detailed summary and study guide of Kipling’s collection of stories in addition to background information about the author.