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The Butterfly Lion

by
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Christian Birmingham

The Butterfly Lion Reviews | Toppsta

Book Rating: 5 based on 13
13 Reviews
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ILLUSTRATED BY CHRISTIAN BIRMINGHAM.
A lyrical and moving tale of a young boy growing up in Africa, and his lifelong friendship with a white lion.
"All my life I'll think of you, I promise I will. I won't ever forget you."
Bertie rescues an orphaned white lion cub from the African veld. They are inseparable until Bertie is sent to boarding school far away in England and the lion is sold to a circus. Bertie swears that one day they will see one another again, but it is the butterfly lion which ensures that their friendship will never be forgotten.

The Butterfly Lion Reviews | Toppsta

9780006751038

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4th August '18
Chicknug read it themselves aged 9 aged 9
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
I read this book at school and then got my mum to buy it for me so I could read it again at home and keep the book. Bertie is the main character and he is a caring person. It is a sad, adventure story set in Africa. This book had a few pictures in it but I didn’t really take much notice of them. I would read this book again and have now given it to my mum to read. 
21st August '16
Elliemai read it themselves aged 9 aged 9
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
this book is fantastic i did not want to put it down.
i was surprised with the ending but happy to that they were all together.
the story is really well written and i really liked the illustrations.
i would recommend this book to boys and girsl aged 8 plus 
21st February '19
I read it myself (an adult)
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
This is one of my favourite Michael Morpurgo books. A fairly quick read, and gripping enough to want to continue reading from start to finish in one go! 
A young boy finds himself escaping from school only to be helped by an older lady who begins to tell him a story set in another land. The story she tells is of another child in Africa, fenced in to avoid harm from the wild animals. This young boys curiosity and love of animals leads him out of the safety of his home to help a white lion. The story continues telling the journey of separation of the cub and boy before later being reunited in a heart warming finale. I love the link to the butterfly’s at the end which reveals the meaning of the title. 
12th November '17
books4izzy read it themselves aged 11 aged 11
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
Read it in yr3 and loved it. Well worth a read!
16th August '18
NB15 read it themselves aged 10 aged 10
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
Neve read this book to me(her mum). We weren't too sure about it to begin with but as the story unfolds and we became lost in the wonderful storytelling it turned out to be both a beautiful and moving story. Fans of Morpurgo will know that he has a wonderful way of portraying historic events to bring them to life for children, to make them interesting and true to life, and this book does not disappoint in that factor. Neve loved this book and has said it is one of her favourites. 
6th May '19
I read it myself (an adult)
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
I liked this book because I could really feel what he was feeling. He told the story in such detail that it felt like you were him. He lived in Africa. His favourite thing was to look at the animals   drinking at the waterhole. The characters were all lovely. This book feels like a true story when he went off to war after boarding school. There are lots of lovely drawings with shades and great detail. I would recommend this book to anyone and i'm shore they would love it. I loved how when you read a page you just wanted to read another. This is another great Michael Morpurgo book.
19th September '18
I read it to RC13 aged 5 aged 5
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
Such a lovely book, we couldn't put it down as we were so involved in the story. Such a brilliant piece of storytelling, that you almost feel that whilst driving through the countryside you may one day come across the butterfly lion. 
22nd April '18
I read it to Pine Martens aged 7 to 8
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
A beautiful story of friendship. Read this as a class story to 7 and 8 year olds, they were enthralled and we could not put it down! 
1st May '18
I read it to Georgie aged 7 aged 7
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
As fans of Michael Morpurgo books, it was an easy title to borrrow from the school library. It was read in turn and i last read it to my 7 year old. We read a chapter  night and loved every minute of it. The few illustrations to catch our imagination. What a beautiful moving story which explain what life was in the veld and boarding school at that time. Both of us so longed to be Bertie!
13th September '16
I read it myself (an adult)
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
My 2 sons are both doing this book at school as their topic and are loving the book.  I wanted to read this to see why they were studying it as the title doesn't give much away.  I have learned that this is a fantastic book.  It is both a page turner and what I would call a 'real story'.  There are so many points of discussion in the story ranging from a small boy being sent away to boarding school to the Second World War with Bertie's love for his white lion underpinning the whole book.
I would highly recommend this story to all age groups.
20th September '18
I read it to Iowmatilda aged 8 aged 8
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
My daughter was wary of reading this book as she has found other Morpurgo books too sad so I read this to her. It is an enchanting story about a beautiful enduring friendship between a young boy and an orphaned lion cub. We were both enchanted by the story and the characters. It had all the elements needed in the perfect story although we were both a little disappointed by the ending which I thought was unnecessary
29th October '16
Daria read it themselves aged 7 aged 7
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
this was a very good book but it was quiet sad too.
this book is also a bit spooky 
i would recommend this book to girls and boys aged 7 plus 
16th February '19
BluebellSnail read it themselves aged 7 aged 7
The Butterfly Lion 9780006751038
5 stars
If I could give it 100 stars I would! 
My favourite character was the butterfly lion. 
It was actually quite tragic but it did have a happily ever after. 
I liked that it was set in the past and there were three stories that were being told.
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About Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo Biography
Michael Morpurgo is an award-winning English author, born in St. Alban’s in 1943. After attending St. Matthias primary school in London, Michael was sent away to boarding school, which he never liked and wrote about in his novel, Butterly Lion.

Later Mi...

More about Michael Morpurgo

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BOOKS BY Michael Morpurgo

Books by this author

BOOKS BY Christian Birmingham

About Christian Birmingham

Michael Morpurgo OBE is one of Britain's best-loved writers for children, and has sold more than 35 million books around the world. He has written more than 150 novels and won many prizes, including the Smarties Prize, the Whitbread Award and the Blue Peter Book Award, while...

More about Christian Birmingham

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BOOKS BY Christian Birmingham

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