The Book of Dust (Vol. 1) Novel Study

This resource is designed to be used during Reading Workshop and is to be used with The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman.

ABOUT THE NOVEL: Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything but is not much noticed himself. And so perhaps it was inevitable that he would become a spy…

Malcolm’s parents run an inn called the Trout, on the banks of the river Thames, and all of Oxford passes through its doors. Malcolm and his daemon, Asta, routinely overhear news and gossip, and the occasional scandal, but during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm catches wind of something new: intrigue.

He finds a secret message inquiring about a dangerous substance called Dust - and the spy it was intended for finds him.

When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he sees suspicious characters everywhere: the explorer Lord Asriel, clearly on the run; enforcement agents from the Magisterium; a gyptian named Coram with warnings just for Malcolm; and a beautiful woman with an evil monkey for a daemon. All are asking about the same thing: a girl - just a baby - named Lyra.

Lyra is the kind of person who draws people in like magnets. And Malcolm will brave any danger, and make shocking sacrifices, to bring her safely through the storm.

ABOUT THE RESOURCE: Designed in alignment with the 2014 National Curriculum of England’s reading objectives for Year 6, the pack includes: Background information on the novel (about the setting, about daemons), Chapter Summaries, Comprehension Questions, Digging Deeper Opportunities (includes character studies and plot studies), Creative Writing Tasks, and Non-Fiction Tasks related to content of the novel (daemons, spies, Aurora, priory).

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