“The Butterfly Lion” by Michael Morpurgo
The Butterfly Lion is a Michael Morpurgo original. With a genre of historical fiction the book has many takeaways for us. The story begins with Michael, a boarding school attendee who runs away from his institution after being a victim of bullying followed by homesickness. On the rainy day amongst the petrichor around him he meets an old woman- Millie. She welcomes him with some snacks when he gets intrigued but the gleaming lion. That’s when the woman begins the enthralling tale of Bertie.
A boy raised by his father, a wealthy farmer in the African veld and his English mother who is often sick with malaria. They build him a playpen but as he grows up he is filled with longing to explore beyond his pen. That’s when a light sparks into his ordinary boring life as he spots a white lion that soons stars in his life as well as in this novel. The pair are inseparable until Bertie is forced to go boarding school in England and the lion cub to a circus in France. Read this book to be a part of a adventurous and heartwarming tale of the Butterfly Lion.
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I enjoyed this read and was glad this was a part of my school’s READ programme. Though I wished the book could have been a bit more longer, I was in awe of the author’s ‘show don’t tell’ that casted a clear image in the reader’s mind. There are always room for improvement and personally, I feel the book had a quite abrupt ending. All in all, I would recommend it for children aged 8-10 considering the vocabulary and the morals like perseverance and loyalty it instills in us.
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Cover Image Credits: https://amzn.eu/d/07HKfjHO
Inside Image Credits: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWSWJYr7OtE2L8hQGu7Rfg-HE2X2sN-hM4dyXxGcU4tiVMmn-_vNQY73NITjnKElAXOOpI318yYpGIqTw
Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3914575859
To know more about the author and his books please visit https://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/.
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