How different would life be if your best friend ware a lion? This is just one of the questions explored by Michael Morpurgo in The Butterfly Lion. Told through recollections of a childhood friend, we are plunged into the past to learn about Bertie’s time growing up in South Africa, his transferral to an English boarding school and subsequently his role as a soldier in the First World War. However it is the themes of friendship, loyalty and overcoming the odds that children will identify with most in this wide-ranging tale. Key Stage 1 1. Introducing the text Michael Morpurgo was unhappy at boarding school, and, when he was seven, he ran away. These experiences made it into The Butterfly Lion. 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. David Wood, chair of Action for Children’s Arts, said Morpurgo is “one of our greatest storytellers”. At the start of the book, the boy is at a boarding school in Wiltshire. Write a diary entry from his point of view, explaining how he feels about being there.

Butterfly Lion: The classic story of an unforgettable The Butterfly Lion: The classic story of an unforgettable

Bertie ‘yearns’ to be out in the veld with the animals. What does ‘yearn’ mean? How you ever ‘yearned’ for something? If you were going to travel to Timbavati, how would you get there? Can you plot the journey on a map? The KS2 SATs style reading material covers his early life, his involvement with charities and his many achievements. 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.Sitting high up in a tree, or looking out of his window, Bertie watches the beautiful elephants, giraffes and zebras come down to the water hole. But it's the lions, Bertie likes best of all. And when, one morning, he sees a baby lion cub trying to escape from some hungry hyenas, Bertie rushes out to rescue it.

Butterfly Lion KS1 and KS2 teaching resources - BBC Teach The Butterfly Lion KS1 and KS2 teaching resources - BBC Teach

The children use this plot outline in a new setting (safari park, school, park etc.) ‘stealing’ some of the language features from the model to retell their own story, initially orally and then in writing. Clare Pearson is deputy headteacher at Summerbank Primary School in Stoke. Previously, Clare was the Primary Advisory English Teacher for Stoke-on-Trent. Share your best topic After five baths, he was finally clean, and completely white. Have you ever seen a white lion before? No? When Michael Morpurgo was asked to name his favourite of the books he’s written, he named The Butterfly Lion (along with Kensuke’s Kingdom, War Horse and Private Peaceful). Bertie had grown up in South Africa and one day found and saved a white lion cub. The book, I was happy to discover, takes its time showing us Bertie's life in Africa, how lonely he was, and then how his friendship with the lion blossomed and he learned about companionship.

Basher Beaumont terrorises and torments the boy at boarding school. Discuss bullying and how we can help people who are affected. Write a set of instructions to teach somebody how to look after an animal (e.g. a lion cub, a dog, a goldfish). Millie uses the phrase ‘Everything comes to he who waits’. What does this mean? Can you find out any more famous phrases?