The Butterfly Lion: Michael Morpurgo

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Michael's books have been translated into many languages including Chinese, Bulgarian and Hungarian, Hebrew and Japanese. He travels all over the UK and abroad talking to people of all ages at literary festivals, telling his stories and encouraging them to tell theirs. 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 If you were going to travel to Timbavati, how would you get there? Can you plot the journey on a map? Millie uses the phrase ‘Everything comes to he who waits’. What does this mean? Can you find out any more famous phrases?

Michael Morpurgo is possibly the greatest writer for children of a generation or two. His words nearly always hit home in my emotional centre and he is truly a brilliant writer on any subject he puts his mind to. Bertie ‘yearns’ to be out in the veld with the animals. What does ‘yearn’ mean? How you ever ‘yearned’ for something? England - KS1/KS2 English: Develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read. The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity. Can you find out more about the work that it does? Could you plan and carry out some fundraising activities to support it?David Wood, chair of Action for Children’s Arts, said Morpurgo is “one of our greatest storytellers”.

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." Write / tell one of the stories that the men might share when they come home from their time away guarding the cattle. War Horse author's The Butterfly Lion to tour UK in stage production | News | The Stage". The Stage. 3 July 2013 . Retrieved 19 January 2017. Later, when fighting in France in the First World War, he saves two men's lives and is given a Victoria Cross. Millie, who has become a nurse in the hopes of finding Bertie, reads about him in a newspaper and the two are reunited. Together they discover that Monsieur Merlot's circus has closed down, but that the Frenchman lives nearby with the lion. 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.You can also read about his life in War Child to War Horse,a collaborative biography with Maggie Fergusson. The old lady says that ‘true stories do not always end just as we would wish them to’. Do you prefer to hear the truth or something made up that keeps you happy? Actress Natalie Cassidy reads extracts from 'The Butterfly Lion' by Michael Morpurgo, and illustrated by Christian Birmingham. 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. 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.

Basher Beaumont terrorises and torments the boy at boarding school. Discuss bullying and how we can help people who are affected. What predictions or connections can you make between the lion in South Africa and the lion that Bertie sees on the hillside in England based on what Natalie said? Identify any unfamiliar words in the story (e.g. veld, haven, sentinels). Can you find out what they mean and write your own definition? Oh my word, what a gorgeous, beautiful, breathtaking story. Finished reading this to Cullen and I had to swallow a lump in my throat so I wouldn't burst into tears (good tears, not bad tears). He wouldn't have understood... :) 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:

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.

A very short, but almost magical story. A bit sad... Reading it you are under the impression of being in a magical land.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? 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. 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. Morpurgo added: “Storymakers and storytellers like Barrie, and like all the previous winners of this award, have given us the hope and faith children need, we need, to keep flying, have sustained us through dark and troubled times, have banished doubt. To touch the lives of children, to witness their listening and reading silence, is reward enough in itself. This is simply the icing on the cake.”