What inspired "The Graveyard Book"?

Neil Gaiman's inspiration for "The Graveyard Book" came from an experience he had while watching his two-year-old son riding a tricycle in a graveyard near their home. The image of a child looking comfortable and happy in a graveyard inspired Gaiman to conceptualize a story about a child being brought up by the dead. This concept reminded him of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book," which features a child raised by wild animals, and he adapted the idea to a graveyard setting where a child would learn from the dead 1 2.