The characters of The Night Gardener cling to the objects given by the tree as symbols that mean their lives will return to how they used to be. What do the tree and its gifts say about holding on to the past? Why do you think the characters cling to their hopes even though they know the objects are made by the tree and are not the real things? What does their hope say about the things we choose to value? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

After reading The Night Gardener, how would you define stories and lies? Are the two completely different, or do they have some overlap? What is the point of telling stories and of telling lies? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Choose three stories or lies that are told in The Night Gardener. How might the book have been different if that story (or lie) hadn’t been told? What would have changed about the characters involved in the telling of that story or lie? How would the plot and conflicts (internal and external) be affected?