and semolina pudding''), only to meet an old woman who invites him in for tea. A boy runs away from his strict boarding school (''It was a diet of Latin and stew and rugby and detentions. The story, about a boy who gives his white lion immortality, moves gracefully through frequent switches from past to present, from first to third person, from the English countryside to pre-WWI South Africa. The delicate and carefully woven ending with just a hint of the unexplained could lead to thought-provoking teaching of inference skills, modelling descriptive settings, and writing about outside landscapes.Winner of a Smarties Gold Medal, Morpurgo's (The Wreck of the Zanzibar) cozy, well-executed British novel may not survive the jump across the ocean-the climax depends on a casual reference likely to be lost on American readers. The World War 1 setting makes this book a useful text to teach in conjunction with history lessons, and also to add atmosphere and meaning to a year 3 or 4 remembrance topic. 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. There’s plenty for KS2 teachers to get their teeth into in terms of literacy planning and topic teaching. Wherever I’ve used this The Butterfly Lion in English teaching, the pupils have always found something to be enthralled by – and the lyrical text seems to have an uncanny knack of capturing their imaginations. 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. In one, a modern boarding school, the children could compare their improved experiences to Bertie’s hardships in a spartan bygone setting. But despite this, The Butterfly Lion managed to resonate equally with the pupils in all three schools. In each school, the children came from very different backgrounds with a wide range of experiences of school, childhood and family life.

I’ve taught and read The Butterfly Lion in three very different primary phase schools over the last 20 years. To see the latest price or order, click on the book cover image. This children’s book is ideal for: reading to year 3 and 4 classes. Published by: Harper Collins Children’s Books. Genre: illustrated gift edition fiction chapter book.

The School Reading Lists’ five word review: engaging, enthralling, lyrical, gift edition.Ĭhildren’s book title: The Butterfly Lion.Ĭhildren’s illustrator: Christian Birmingham.

Michael morpurgo the butterfly lion