The Butterfly Lion

The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo is an animal story for 9 year olds about a boy and the white lion he promises to find again.

What happens

A boy has had enough of boarding school and runs away. He's lonely, frightened of getting caught and determined to get home. Then he meets an old woman who invites him inside for tea and scones.

Outside her house is something very strange. There's a lion on the hillside that seems to shimmer blue in the sunlight. How can that be?

The woman has a story to tell him. It begins in South Africa with a boy called Bertie and a young white lion whose mother has died. Bertie saves the cub and the two become friends.

They can't stay together. Boarding school takes Bertie to England while a circus buys the lion. He makes a promise that their separation won't last forever.

If your reader likes being told a story within a story, this has a lovely way of drawing them in. The runaway starts out worrying about punishment. Before long he's eating another scone and wanting to hear everything about Bertie.

You can settle in with him. The woman talks as she makes the tea and the boy keeps looking out at that odd blue lion. There's something very inviting about having someone explain a mystery when you've only just stumbled across it.

The loneliness is easy to feel too. The boy at school wants to be back with his family. Bertie's friendship matters enough for him to make a promise even when the adults have decided where both he and the lion must go.

There are some sad parts worth knowing about. The opening includes bullying and the fear of being caned at school. The lion's loss of its mother and the friends being parted may also upset a child who finds animal stories especially emotional.

For a reader who enjoys caring deeply about an animal and wondering whether a promise can be kept, that may be what makes them want to read on. The blue lion gives them another question to carry through the story.

What to read next

If the animal friendship is what catches their interest, When the Sky Falls is also in the library. Its boy and gorilla face wartime danger, including the threat of the gorilla being killed, so it's a serious next read.