What is the significance of the opening scene of 'the book thief'?

In the opening scene, death is trying to gain the reader's trust by talking to him/her as if it were a human being. The reader becomes confused at the beginning and then starts to accept the fact that death is a natural occurrence.

Death is showing the reader that it was very busy during World War II.

By the end of this scene, death managed to introduce itself as a main character and a reliable narrator for the book.