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? Millie uses the phrase ‘Everything comes to he who waits’. What does this mean? Can you find out any more famous phrases? The Butterfly Lioncombines music, design and puppetry to bring a magical adventure to life: celebrating nature, friendship and the triumph of love. Some books make you laugh, don't they? And other books make you hold your breath, because you can't believe what's about to happen next. Other books make you feel sad, because, the writer has made you care for the characters so much. Well, I have to tell you, that this book has all of that. I'm never going to forget reading this book. In one, a modern boarding school, the children could compare their improved experiences to Bertie’s hardships in a spartan bygone setting. In another, the vivid descriptions of Africa transformed grey windswept days of an urban Autumn term, and in the third, the descriptions of school food and chilblains fascinated the children and engaged their parents and grandparents who would delight in telling of their own memories.

There was impala meat, whenever he wanted it. And as he grew, and he grew fast, he wanted more and more of it. For the first time in his life, Bertie was totally happy." But... it doesn't last. Soon, Bertie is sent away to a school in England, and the lion cub is sold, to a circus in France. Millie uses the phrase 'Everything comes to he who waits'. What does this mean? Can you find out any more famous phrases? i.e draw a line under it etcThis, in and of itself, would be heartbreaking and infuriating. But knowing how much the two cared about one another just made it worse (or better, from a storyteller's point of view). 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? Well, you've probably never seen a lion live in a house before, but that's what he ends up doing. He even sleeps at the end of Bertie's bed. 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. Identify any unfamiliar words in the story (e.g. veld, haven, sentinels). Can you find out what they mean and write your own definition?

Michael Morpurgo has thrilled and delighted huge numbers of young readers since becoming a children’s author in the early 1970s," Wood said. "Action for Children’s Arts is delighted to recognise Michael’s outstanding contribution by presenting him with the J M Barrie Award 2016. His work will undoubtedly, like Peter Pan, stand the test of time, making him a truly worthy recipient of this award." Bertie’s struggle to adjust to his new life in harsh, grey England is alleviated only by a chance friendship with the equally lonely Millie and his dreams of his treasured lion, now trapped in a French circus.But their remarkable journey is only just beginning, and the pair are destined to meet again. Could you conduct a survey to find out your friends favourite animals and show the results in different types of table / graph? Find out about the use of animals in circuses and write a balanced argument showing the arguments for and against this practice. Try to research the place 'Timbavati', where Bertie was born. What is the environment like there? Who lives there? What is there to do in the local area? How is it similar / different to where you were born?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 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. urn:lcp:butterflylion0000morp_i3d4:epub:7c3c426e-6644-4d29-a39d-d91f91336277 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier butterflylion0000morp_i3d4 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t9k45wk5m Invoice 1652 Isbn 0001006614 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.” There’s plenty for KS2 teachers to get their teeth into in terms of literacy planning and topic teaching. The themes of friendship and loyalty, combined with the richly realised characters, lend this text for use in hot seating, book club discussion and PSHE circle times.

After five baths, he was finally clean, and completely white. Have you ever seen a white lion before? No? 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.

The Butterfly Lion – at a glance

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. 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.