The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Henwick Primary School...our thoughts. This book provided much lively discussion between us. We were all agreed that we would not read it to children in primary school as we, as adults, were able to fill in the gaps required to understand what Bruno is experiencing yet this prior knowledge, and the maturity required to bridge the gaps and access the text with sufficient empathy to fully understand the story, would be beyond the capabilities of many of our pupils. Our personal responses to the text varied; two of us greatly enjoyed the text,feeling that the innocence of Bruno carried the reader through the story, resulting in twists and turns of emotion as the the story arc unfolded. One felt that (for once) the film was a more fulfilling experience, particularly with the ending which felt underdeveloped in the book. Finally, another felt that to ask the reader to believe that Bruno knew nothing about what was going on around him removed much of the integrity from the story, whilst the friendship between the two boys was not sufficiently built up, depriving the reader of the opportunity to develop an empathetic relationship with either character. We enjoyed the discussions the reading of the book provided. Mark, Karen, Elspeth, Liz