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The Butterfly Lion

Book Synopsis

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.

Our Review Panel says...

This novel, by the popular children’s author Michael Morpurgo, is the inspirational tale of a young boy called Bertie, who grows up in Africa and befriends a white lion cub. Will their friendship last over time when they are both sent abroad? This is a text that will starkly contrast the wild plains of Africa to the setting of a stiff boarding school in England, and the moving storyline will have pupils hanging onto your every word.

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