The Graveyard Book

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTER 1

Reading Check

1. How old is Nobody when his family is killed?

2. What is the killer’s name?

3. How many people have been buried in the cemetery?

4. Who cries out that Jack is “trying to harm my baby!” (15)?

5. Who is the cemetery’s founder?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does the toddler escape from the killer? Who protects the child?

2. What is ironic about the excuse the killer gives for being in the graveyard when Silas confronts him?

3. What is different about Silas from the other graveyard residents?

4. How do Mr. and Mrs. Owens feel about the child, as opposed to the rest of the ghosts?

5. What event finally ends the long argument over what to do with the child?

Paired Resource

“Adoption”

• This poem by Alison Kolodinsky conveys the love an adoptive parent feels for their child.
• This resource relates to the theme of Family, the Ones Who Love You.
• Who is the speaker of this poem? What is the main idea? Do you think the Owenses feel this way about Nobody?

“Purl”

• This 9-minute Pixar short features an unusual new employee and her efforts to fit in around the office.
• This resource relates to the theme of The Loneliness of Unusual People.
• What is the main idea of this video? Why might people reject unusual individuals like Purl, especially at first? In what ways does Silas seem unusual? In the video, Purl stays true to herself and wins everyone over. Do you think this happy ending is realistic?

Neil Gaiman Reads The Graveyard Book

• If you have students who would benefit from access to an audio version of this text, the publisher has made available these videos of Gaiman himself reading the text aloud, in a chapter-by-chapter playlist.

CHAPTER 2-INTERLUDE

Reading Check

1. Whom do Scarlett’s parents tell her lived in England before the Romans?

2. Who guards the hidden room with the alter that Bod and Scarlett explore together?

3. Who serves as Bod’s guardian while Silas is away?

4. What does Liza ask Bod to buy for her?

5. What does the Mayoress have to give to each person in town?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Scarlett somewhat lonely and isolated?

2. What do all the names of the ghouls have in common?

3. What is the “Potter’s Field” at the edge of the cemetery?

4. Why does Silas say he can’t dance the Macabray?

5. What does Mr. Dandy want Jack to do?

Paired Resource

“A Brief History of the ‘Danse Macabre’”

• This Atlas Obscura article explains the history and meaning of the danse macabre and offers several illustrations of this artistic motif. (Note that some of these illustrations contain depictions of nude human forms and that all contain imagery related to death.)
• This resource relates to the theme of Life is for Living.
• What is the danse macabre? What purpose does this artistic motif serve? How does the Macabray dance in The Graveyard Book communicate a similar message?

“The Skeleton Dance”

• This 6-minute Disney animation is an example of the danse macabre motif from 1929.
• This resource relates to the theme of Life is for Living.
• What is the mood of this animation? How would you compare the mood of this danse macabre to the mood of the Macabray in The Graveyard Book?

CHAPTERS 6-8

Reading Check

1. What book do Bod and Thackeray get into an argument over?

2. Where are Silas and Miss Lupescu while Bod and Scarlett are getting reacquainted?

3. Who tells Bod he should go find the person who killed his original family?

4. What word is all that is left on Mother Slaughter’s headstone by the end of the story?

5. What is the last thing Bod hears from Mrs. Owens?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What reasons does Bod give for not being afraid of Jack?

2. How does Bod end up accidentally drawing attention to himself at school?

3. Why does Bod become less contented with his life in the graveyard at age 14?

4. What does Scarlett learn when she researches the murder of Bod’s original family?

5. What are Bod’s plans for his life outside the graveyard?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

• This classic young adult fantasy novel tells the story of Lyra, a fierce young woman with unusual gifts who adventures far from home to save her friend Roger. Along the way, she discovers other worlds and truths about herself.
• Shared themes include Family, the Ones Who Love You and The Loneliness of Unusual People.
• Shared topics include bildungsroman, fantasy, adventure, the supernatural, the struggle of good against evil, absent or missing parents, and atypical families.     
• The Golden Compass on SuperSummary

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

• This novel is the first in the immensely popular Harry Potter young adult series, in which magical child Harry is transported from his terrible life with his aunt and uncle to the wizarding school of Hogwarts, where he begins his magical education.
• Shared themes include Family, the Ones Who Love You and The Loneliness of Unusual People.
• Shared topics include bildungsroman, fantasy, adventure, the supernatural, the struggle of good against evil, absent or missing parents, and atypical families.
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on SuperSummary