The Butterfly Lion: Michael Morpurgo

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The inspiring magic of a white lion brings friendship and hope to a lonely ten year old. Miserable at his boarding school, Bertie runs away. He is rescued by a kind old lady who tells him of how another Bertie, a little boy from a long time before, saved an orphaned lion cub in Africa. The symbol of the white lion becomes an emblem of hope as well as a link across generations. Michael Morpurgo is skilful in weaving together magical and real stories. ~ Julia Eccleshare Make a list of the animals named in the book. Can you use a Venn diagram or Carroll diagram to sort them into different groups? A son and grandson of actors, Michael has acting in his blood and enjoys collaborating and performing live adaptations of his books at festivals, concerts and theatres. David Wood, chair of Action for Children’s Arts, said Morpurgo is “one of our greatest storytellers”.

Look at a picture of a white lion cub and think of vocabulary to describe it? (see Resources below). Make a list of the animals named in the book. What can you find out about them? Can you identify what they eat, their habitats, how they are adapted to live there etc? Michael Morpurgo appeared on the map for me after I first saw the movie and then read the book War Horse. Eventually, I came across this gem of an edition.Actress Natalie Cassidy reads extracts from 'The Butterfly Lion' by Michael Morpurgo, and illustrated by Christian Birmingham.

Eventually, Bertie had to return to England to attend a boarding school, and the lion - not deemed fit to survive in the wild on its own - was sold to a circus. Northern, Ireland - KS1/KS2 Language and Literacy: Extend the range of their reading and develop their own preferences. This book is an extremely good book and touching. It tells the story of a boy, who runs away from school and meets an old lady called Milly. She tells him a wonderful story about a boy called Bertie, who finds a white lion cub in Africa. Bertie has to go to boarding school in England and the lion cub is sold to a French circus man. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments This book, The Butterfly Lion, is such a wonderful story. It's about a boy called Bertie. He lives with his parents, on a remote farm in the wild countryside of South Africa.

The Butterfly Lion is a heart warming yet bitter-sweet story. Bertie is a lonely little boy in South Africa who one day adopts an orphaned white lion cub, who then becomes his best friend. I can see why they opted to also tell this story on stage, it has all the hallmarks of a great story that appeals to people of all ages...

A young boy named Michael runs away from a boarding school and meets an old lady living in a big cottage. She tells him about a boy named Bertie who lived in South Africa. As a boy, Bertie had found an orphaned white lion cub, but was eventually forced to send the lion away to the circus and leave South Africa to attend boarding school in Wiltshire, England. Write a set of instructions to teach somebody how to look after an animal (e.g. a lion cub, a dog, a goldfish). The protagonist of the story is a young boy who is well characterised by Morpurgo allowing the reader to get on board and feel the emotions of the character. However, he is carefully ambiguous enough to allow a wide verity of readers to identify directly with him. That was when the shot rang out. The hyenas bolted into the long grass and were gone. When Bertie turned around, he saw his mother in her night gown, rifle in hand, running towards him down the hill. He had never seen her run before. Between them, they gathered up the mud-matted cub and brought him home." Bertie ‘yearns’ to be out in the veld with the animals. What does ‘yearn’ mean? How you ever ‘yearned’ for something?After the success of War Horse my local theatre had an upcoming production of this Morpurgo classic. Use drama techniques (e.g. conscience corridor) to discuss why Bertie’s family should / shouldn’t sell the lion to the circus owner. Watch this video for some ideas: If you were going to travel to Timbavati, how would you get there? Can you plot the journey on a map?

This is such a beautiful story. There is such a poetic structure to it. I listened to the Butterfly lion as an audio book and found it very moving. I thought of year five, when I was listening and how it could link into ww2. I felt that it would be particularly beneficial if the children could experience the audiobook version. There are so many benefits from listening to a story in any format, from developing listening skills and quite concentration to fostering imagination and visualization techniques. All of these skills are thought to develop reading comprehension. However, for me, audio versions take this again to another level. Having a skilled narrator telling the story,especially if it's the author themselves,as michael Morpurgo does.Can help a child understand ,punctuation,enunciation and bring out the meaning of the text. It is wonderful to hear from different character perspectives. The language and accents,transport you into the story, also,helping the listener appreciate unfamiliar accents and dialects.Although you may need hard copies for the children to refer to when engaging them in tasks. Find out about the use of animals in circuses and write a balanced argument showing the arguments for and against this practice. Emotion/Emoji Word Bank: Create a word bank of emotion-related words (e.g., joyful, worried, excited) on the board, linking them to corresponding emojis. Ask children to rate the books they read based on their emotions. I liked how I was surrounded by the refreshing sights,sounds and smells of nature while reading it. The way classics always do to me anyway.LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Having run away from boarding school, young Michael meets an old lady who tells about a boy he’s age called Bertie who adopts a Lion in South Africa.