The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Powerful, Memorable, Affective, Sentimental and Vigorous

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Published by David Fickling Books

Copyright 2006

“Deeply affecting… Beautiful and sparely written.” – The Wall Street Journal

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, written by John Boyne takes place during the Holocaust. The main character Bruno is nine years old when he learns that his family needs to pack up and leave their home. They move from Berlin to Auschwitz where Bruno discovers new things in his surroundings. He first notices outside his window other children dressed strange in striped pajamas. He becomes very eager of what he is witnessing and explores around his new home. He then meets a boy named Shmuel and they develop a strong bond and friendship even though a fence separates them. This story shows how important friendship is and that even though these two boys were drastically different they both found comfort in each other from two sides of a fence.

Description: Fiction, Fable                                 

Suggested Delivery: Independent Read

Reading Level: Lexile Framework- 1080L

Electronic Resources:

Author's Website

This is John Boyne’s personal website and it includes a biography, both his fiction and non-fiction writing, a personal blog and also video clips of movies that were made from his novels.

Publishers Website

This is the Publishers website and it provides the books that they’ve published and also more about David Fickling Books.

Trailer

This is the official trailer for the movie that was created from the book, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Key Vocabulary: Greengrocers, Reverberated, Despair, catastrophe, Holocaust, Concentration Camp, Auschwitz, and Hitler

Teaching Suggestions:

1. Use this text when teaching children about the Holocaust.

2. Use this text to show the importance of friendship.

3. Use this text when doing a Social Studies lesson about memorable children during this time period an example is Anne Frank.

Comprehension Strategies:

Pre-reading- Have the student’s fill out an anticipation guide before having them do the independent reading. The anticipation guide will provide a checklist written by the instructor to trigger the students existing knowledge about the Holocaust and concentration camps.  

During Reading- Have the students participate in fishbowl discussion. Learning about the Holocaust is a very touching matter to teach to children. This fishbowl will allow the students to talk about the book within small groups while other student’s circle around the small group and listen.

Post- Reading- Have the student’s complete exit slips when they have completed the reading. They can write down on a piece of paper what they learned about this book and also prompt them to write what important message they gathered while reading. They will then share in 5 minutes or less what they wrote with small groups. 

Writing Activity- Have the students complete a letter written to either Bruno or Shmuel. Have them try to connect emotionally to these main characters and have them write about how they felt when they were reading the story. They can also include any questions they might have for the two boys.

Boyne, John. The boy in the striped pajamas: a fable. Oxford: David Fickling Books, 2006. Print.