Read & Respond: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

by Eileen Jones

Read & The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas provides teacher with a wealth of resources to teach The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. Notes and activities reflect the way that teachers teach now and include shared texts, guided reading notes, reading activities, speaking and listening activities, writing projects and assessment guidance. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas tells the thought-provoking story about the naivety of a young German boy in the Second World War.

Paperback

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a really well written b00k and I enjoyed it very much!

[Kylie Vollmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about a nine-year-old boy named Bruno and his family including their servants and maids fleeing their home in Berlin during The Holocaust. Bruno is furious and unhappy they moved because of leaving his three "best friends for life", no options to explore, and the downgraded home. One day Bruno goes out exploring and finds a boy named Shmuel through a barbed-wire fence, both oblivious of the true reality going on around them.
One of the themes that I got from the story is friendship because of how well it was portrayed in the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel. Despite the fact they had diverse circumstances and backgrounds, Bruno refused to believe Jews "aren't people". Although this book is historical fiction, I can use this theme in life by setting higher standards for how I am treated and how I treat others. I say this because, at the time of the war, people treated others crudely because of their beliefs; most people who studied the religion Judaism. The two friends showed it shouldn't matter what they believe in, they both treated each other as any other human being.
John Boyne did an outstanding job writing the book from a kid's perspective. He uses the metaphor, "the striped pajamas" as a kid's view on what the holocaust prisoners were required to wear. The author put a lot of similes in the novel to give the readers a representation that Bruno didn't understand what was truly going on. For example, the author describes, "There was some sort of disturbance towards the back, where some people seemed unwilling to march, but Bruno was too small to see what happened and all he heard was loud noises, like the sound of gunshots, but he couldn't make out what they were" (211).
One thing that could be improved in this story is the use of vocab; in some instances, there were very little vocab words, and I felt like some other vocab words could give the readers more information.
This book reminded me of Number the Stars by Lois Lowry because they were both written in the time period of World War II when Nazi's and Adolf Hitler were trying to wipe out the population of Jews.
This book had me on a mood roller coaster, especially when Shmuel and Bruno die; I felt my heart crumble into pieces because I had already made a loving connection for both of them.
Some of the questions I had throughout the book: Why didn't Bruno understand what his father did; was it because his parents lied to them or did he never ask? Why was the title The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas; why is Shmuel the title and not Bruno who was the main character?
I feel like this book is better read as a teenager because teens still have developing minds and are most likely still learning about the war in school.

[Hritika · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing book. to teach the unjust with the Jews without violence.

[Kalpriya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a sad book but is filled with adventure parts of history and is included with mind blowing facts..

[Soul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just as sad as the film. Although like almost every other book that has been turned into a film, it had a few slight changes. Not as much as some other books that I have read, which makes me appreciate this book just that little bit more.
It puts into a view of what it was like in WWII, although told from the view of a young German boy, who later befriended a young Jewish boy that was locked in a concentration camp. He didn't understand what was so bad about the jews, so he continued to visit. In the end, it was very sad, and his father would've regretting everything that he had done.

I don't like the little boys father, all he did was put his work before his family, and it costed him greatly in the end.

That poor boy, he didn't deserve what he got, neither did anyone else, for that matter, none of them should have had their lives ended like that.

[Priyanka · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept of the book is good which is what attracted me to it. The book is really good for children i'd say however for grownups, I don't think so as it takes an overly simplistic view. I can't believe that a 9 (and subsequently 10) yr old boy has such a weak understanding of what's going around him. Especially since he was being taught by a Nazi tutor and living in a Nazi household, its hard to believe that he'd know nothing about the Nazi philosophy. Also, its again hard to believe that the jewish boy he befriended told him nothing about the atrocities commited by the soldiers or by the boy's fathers.

[Arijana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odličano.. Dugo nisam čitala roman iz dječje perspektive pogotovo takve tematike.. Bruno ima 9 godina i na svoj način opisuje holokaust iako on ne zna točno o čemu se tu radi. Zašto su svi obučeni u prugaste pidžame?? Zašto se Pavel (sluga) više ne smije baviti medicinom?? Upoznaje dječaka s druge strane ograde (logor) i sprijatelji se s njim. Svakodnevno provode sate razgovarajući iako ni jedan ni drugi ne zanju točno zašto su tu. Tužan kraj :-( svakako čitati

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like better the movie version of producer David Heyman. I cried so badly

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved tho book. although it has a very sad ending the boy is quiet funny at times with his mis-understandings of some words and surroundings.

[Dean Newby · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most touching stories I've ever read!

[Joseph]

This book was a rollercoster of sad, happy and huge emotions. This book good.