Philip Pullman has won many distinguished prizes, including the
Carnegie Medal for
The Golden Compass (and the
reader-voted "Carnegie of Carnegies" for the best children''s book
of the past seventy years); the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the
Year Award for
The Amber Spyglass; a Booker Prize
long-list nomination (
The Amber Spyglass); Parents''
Choice Gold Awards (
The Subtle Knife and
The Amber
Spyglass); and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in honor of
his body of work. In 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the
Order of the British Empire.
Philip Pullman is the author of many books for young readers,
including two volumes related to the His Dark Materials trilogy:
Lyra''s Oxford and
Once Upon a Time in the North.
He lives in Oxford, England. To learn more, please visit
www.philip-pullman.com and www.hisdarkmaterials.com.
From the Hardcover edition.
1. Dust, Dark Matter, and Sraf are three different names for the
same material. How do these names reflect the different worlds they
come from? What attitudes and feelings does each society have about
this material?
2. Why do you think the subtle knife breaks when Will thinks of
his mother? When the knife breaks, do you think Mrs. Coulter is
aware of her influence on Will? Are there any connections between
Mrs. Coulter and Will''s mother?
3. In each book of the His Dark Materials trilogy, a
special device (such as the alethiometer, the subtle knife, or the
amber spyglass) is introduced in connection with the pursuit of
Dust. What are the different properties of each instrument? How
does each instrument reflect the personality of the person that
uses it (i.e., Lyra, Will, and Dr. Malone)?
4. When asked to mend the subtle knife, Iorek is hesitant:
"Sometimes a tool may have other uses that you don''t know.
Sometimes in doing what you intend you also do what the knife
intends, without knowing." What do you think the knife''s
intentions are? Based on these intentions, who do you think created
the knife and for what purpose?
5. By the end of The Amber Spyglass, what similiarites
can you see between Lyra and Mrs. Coulter? How is Lyra''s
storytelling different from Mrs. Coulter''s lying?
6. In The Amber Spyglass, Mrs. Coulter goes through a
dramatic transformation as her maternal feelings for Lyra break
through to the surface. What is the catalyst for this change?