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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

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By John Boyne

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100 reviews

Nine-year-old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable home in Berlin to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with.

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Reviews

11 Jan 2024

I liked the bit when Bruno and his sister Gretal saw people out of the window it was so interesting. My favourite character was gretal because i liked her dolls.
i would definitely recommend this amazing book.

18 Aug 2023

Fun reading

02 Aug 2023

It was a fiction story, however many people may have lived like the people in this story. My favorite character is Bruno, because very curious and although often excitable is still an interesting character. Like I said before, it is fiction however people did live like that so it was somewhat factual. It interested me because I enjoy History and WW2 is an interesting era to learn about. I would recommend it to someone else, however, it only starts to become exciting and emotional in the end hal of the book.

01 Oct 2022

It was a ver good book. And my fave character was Bruno as he changed so much

26 Aug 2022

A heart wrenching tale but an important read none the less.

30 Jul 2022

Amazing book. Extremely compelling, It started off with the boy and his family moving houses then he looked outside his window after that he consistently went there and brought the boy food and it was a very heartwarming when he tried to help his friend and even shaved his head. It was utterly sad when all the boys in the facility camp died. This shows a very powerful friendship and its an excellent story. I recommend this book for 9+

19 Jun 2022

I like Bruno the best. It would probably interest me because it was like going into another person life
Very deppressing

28 May 2022

it was really emotional and heart breaking that the past had to be like that

15 Jan 2022

This was o.k.

14 Jan 2022

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a novel written by John Boyne (fiction, but based on the Holocaust). The main characters are Father, Mother, Bruno and Gretel. Bruno, a young boy and son of a Nazi Commandant, lives in Berlin, Germany. He moves house to Auschwitz, Poland with his family. He got bored and decided to do some exploring. He saw a boy named Shmuel (a Jew) and they both become friends. Time passes by and suddenly Bruno gets news that he is going back to Berlin. He is upset and doesn't know how to tell his friend. They both plan an adventure, but it goes wrong and both Shmuel, Bruno and many other Jews die in a gas chamber. The Commandant, aka Bruno's father is shocked to find out that Bruno is missing. He gets very sad and gives up on his career. I wouldn't recommend it to people who get very sad on this type of book.

06 Sep 2021

Great book, heart wrenching.

Will share with my year 6 pupils this year.

05 Sep 2021

This is a very good book, although very sad and harrowing. It is beautifully written. It is written so subtly that you aren't told what has happened, but it leaves you knowing what has happened. My two favourite characters were Bruno and Shmuel. The innocence of the two boys was very poignant. I would recommend this book.

04 Sep 2021

I would recommend this book to people 14+ and my favourite character is Bruno because he a very kind as he brought food to the Jew boy. He is also always optimistic. The setting is during the World War for me personally, this book is a tragedy.

21 Aug 2021

I really enjoyed this book, I found that this book was very factual and that it concluded with a horrifying end of the story, I thought that the soldiers would notice that Bruno was not meant to be there, so the ending shocked me. I liked Pavel, the Jewish waiter, as he showed kindness when helping Bruno, even though he wasn't allowed to help, as Bruno fell off the homemade swing that he made, with a tyre and some rope.
I would definitely recommend this book to people of my age and above, as it was very factual and interesing, but quite upsetting.

05 Aug 2021

The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas, while sad, is a story worth reading. It inspires the reader to think about the Nazis and how terribly wrong they were. A bond is formed with both of the boys, demonstrating the heartbreak the Jews must have felt when their own friends and family were mercilessly killed.
The message of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is that we are all more alike than we are different. The innocent friendship of the Jewish boy Shmuel and the Nazi's son Bruno, set against the horrific backdrop of the Holocaust, highlights the fact that divisions between people are arbitrary.

24 Jul 2021

I enjoyed reading this book and wanted to read on to find out what happened. It is clever because it is a fictional story based on factual events. I don't really enjoy history books, but this story kept my interest. Such a sad and abrupt ending. I would recommend it to older children.

24 Jul 2021

It was not as interesting as I thought it would be.

20 Jul 2021

I absolutely loved reading this book although it was very sad and emotional.
The beginning of the book did not give much of the story away so it kept you reading until the end. The story was difficult to read because of the characters and setting but then life in that time was not easy or nice for anyone.
It is just sad that both boys had to go through what they did just because they wanted a friend!

16 Jul 2021

This book was really enthusiastic and i really enjoyed reading it. I would recommend this book to all bookworms who love to read.

02 Jun 2021

Bruno goes for exploration and finds a boy on the other side of the fence he soon finds out this boy is a Jew but stay friends this book is set in ww2 and is amazing father is the commandant to the fury and they moved from Burlin to the country side as greater calls it . This book has a sad ending but is great to read and very addictive once you begin its hard to put it down

21 Dec 2020

We have read this a class book but it was a good story! If you like books about mystery and war you will love this book!

08 Oct 2020

Amazing very sad though

12 Sep 2020

This book was factual and it was particularly interesting because it was told in the perspective of a nine year old boy named Bruno

05 Sep 2020

My favourite character was Schmuel as he is sad because he can't see his friend as there is a fence. I would recommend this book to people who like history of the german side in world war 2 and who also likes emotional stories.

30 Aug 2020

At first I wasn’t that hooked, and i thought there would be more to it seeming as it had good reviews. The book wasn’t actually that special, but the ending really made me reflect on the book and what it means as an overall. I would recommend this to anyone who is learning about ww2 at the moment because it’s a great way to see how terrible things happened so ferociously.

17 Aug 2020

this was a great read but also quite sad i would recommend it to people who don't mind a sad ending

15 Aug 2020

I loved this book but I found it really sad how the Germans treated the Jews it was also sad that Bruno and his best friend died but other than that it was a great book

08 Aug 2020

If you are looking for a short but moving book, then this is perfect for you!

26 Jul 2020

this book was very interesting and actaully really upsetting. i liked gretel and bruno because they were very kind and a bit funny. the bit when shmeuls father dissapears and bruno to because it is then like a mystery. i would definnitly recommend it to other people.

05 Jul 2020

This is a fantastic book and so well written. The book draws you in and tells the story in such a way you feel like you're there. The author repeats phrases so you remember important parts of the story and can picture each scene. I loved the way the child pronounces important parts of history. It is an excellent book and I would highly recommend it. It was fiction based on fact and given the tragic nature of the story, it is brilliantly written from the eyes of an innocent child. It is an eye-opener and really makes you think.

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