Coraline
Neil Gaiman
Gaiman's own creepy middle-grade novel shares the Graveyard Book's unsettling-but-warm tone, with a brave child facing eerie adults and a home that is not quite safe.
8 books to read next
Books Like The Graveyard Book
If you loved The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book follows Bod, a boy raised by ghosts, werewolves and other cemetery residents after an intruder kills his family. Readers love its gentle spookiness, its episodic structure, and the warm, slightly wry voice that treats the eerie as ordinary. The pace is unhurried, the scares are light, and the story balances cosy domestic moments with real danger. It suits family reading aloud as well as independent readers who enjoy atmospheric, character-led adventures.
Gentle spooky adventures for children
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Kelly Barnhill
A fairy-tale mood, a witch, and a found child at the heart of the story echo Bod's adoption into a world of unusual guardians, with gentle magic throughout.
Raised by an unusual family
Matilda
Roald Dahl
A clever, overlooked child finds her own unconventional allies and fights back against adults who don't understand her, a theme Bod's story shares.
The Penderwicks
Jeanne Birdsall
A warm, funny family story where a close-knit household of sisters and their father feels like a loving, slightly eccentric home, as Bod's graveyard does.
Atmospheric gothic and folklore
Wildwood
Colin Meloy
A richly described, folklore-steeped story of a child drawn into a hidden magical wilderness, with the same sense of an old world running beside ours.
Go deeper into the Gaiman world
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The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman
Another Gaiman novel where an ordinary child's brush with the supernatural is told with the same quiet, haunting intimacy as Bod's story.
The Wind in the Willows
Kenneth Grahame
A classic of cosy, character-driven storytelling set in a gently idyllic natural world, appealing to readers who loved the Graveyard Book's warmth.
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien
A classic quest tale with a reluctant small hero, folklore creatures and a read-aloud rhythm that will suit fans of Bod's unusual upbringing and adventures.
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