A 2014 World Book Night selection.
Initially it is difficult to believe that the young son of the commandant of Auschwitz is as innocent as he is, then you begin to accept his ignorance and follow a developing friendship through to its dreadful conclusion. That this is written for children is easy to forget. I urge you to read Morris Gleitzman’s Once, too, for the Jewish perspective.
A "Piece of Passion" from the publisher...
‘This is a short book but it packs a huge emotional punch. It leaves you feeling emotionally drained and desperate to talk to someone else who has read it to share your experience. I read the book with a mounting chill, almost knowing what would happen but hoping against hope that it wouldn’t. This is one of the few books that genuinely appeals to both adults and children and can, and indeed should, be read by all ages.' Judith Welsh, Managing Editor at Transworld
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
Win a Copy of The Sisters of Hope Square by Faith Hogan and a Bucket List Scratch Book
Closing date: 04/07/2026
Nine-year-old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution or 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. Until he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence and who, like the other people there, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas.
Bruno’s friendship with Shmuel will take him from innocence to revelation. And in exploring what he is unwittingly a part of, he will inevitably become subsumed by the terrible process.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Young Adult Fiction, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations, Children’s, Teenage and Educational
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was written by John Boyne and published by Vintage Children's Classics an imprint of Vintage
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has 223 pages
Yes it is part of Vintage Classics series
£8.09
