As a boy, Bertie had found an orphaned white lion cub, but was eventually forced to send the lion away to the circus and leave South Africa to attend boarding school in Wiltshire, England.

When was the Butterfly Lion set?

This picture book tells the story of 16-year-old Sydney’s decision to join-up in 1914 and the effect it has on him and his family.

Where did Bertie and Millie bury the lion?

lamb and because it was in the chapel of the boarding school they used a verse from scripture. Where is Bertie buried? Beside the White Prince at the bottom of the hill.

Is The Butterfly Lion a real story?

The story was inspired by a number of different things – Michael’s boyhood memories, the experiences of Chris McBride with the lions of Timbavati, a meeting Michael had with the actress Viginia McKenna – a great supporter of lions and their welfare, the true story of a World War 1 soldier who saved some circus animals …

What is the plot of The Butterfly Lion?

The Butterfly Lion Synopsis The story of a young boy who rescues an orphaned white lion cub from the African bush. They remain inseparable until Bertie has to go away to boarding school and the lion is sold to a circus. Years later they are reunited, until the lion gently dies of old age.

Will Bertie escape from the compound?

1. Will Bertie escape from the compound? Ans. Bertie will escape from the compound as he thought that he would go in the veld by himself one day.

What kind of boy Bertie was?

Answer: l think bertie is very kind towards caring for animals , he just not kept hom for timepass but he saved him from dangerous hyenas…

What are chilblains and semolina pudding?

It was a diet of Latin and stew and rugby and detentions and cross-country runs and chilblains and marks and squeaky beds and semolina pudding. And then there was Basher Beaumont who terrorised and tormented me, so that I lived every waking moment of my life in dread of him.

Who is telling the story in The Butterfly Lion?

One Sunday, Bertie sneaks away from his school. He meets a young girl named Millie, who is actually the old woman telling Michael this story, and they become very close friends.

What is the theme of the Butterfly Lion?

Butterfly Lion is a heart warming story of loneliness and finding companionship. It follows themes which Michael Morpurgo brings to life for the reader so well, of relationships between children and animals and love and war.

Article first time published on

Why does Bertie's father shoot the lioness?

Why does Bertie’s father shoot the lioness? Bertie’s father shot the lion because it had killed some of his cattle.

What was the reason given by Bertie's mother for keeping the lion?

Bertie’s mother is kind, caring and wants the best for her son. She decides to let Bertie keep the lion as she knows he feels lonely growing up in South Africa with no other people around. She is unwell at the start of our story, and eventually grows weaker.

Why didn't Bertie give the White lion a name?

“Why don’t you give him a name?” his mother asked one day. “Because he doesn’t need one,” replied Bertie. “He’s a lion, not a person.

How did Bertie spend his days?

How would he spend his days? Ans: Bertie grew up with his parents on a farmhouse far away on the South African veld. He spends all his days safely behind the compound fence around the garden watching all the wild animals come to the waterhole.

Why did Bertie call his bravery award codswallop?

Why did Bertie call his bravery award “codswallop”? The two men who had rescued him deserved the award more than he did. To be brave you had to be frightened, and he hadn’t been. Real courage was going back in a hail of bullets, and he hadn’t.

What is the most exciting animal Bertie saw at the waterhole?

Really wanted to explore, but warned not to leave the compound. Waterhole close to their compound – attracted wonderful animals, including lions. One evening, Bertie saw the lion cub and was extremely excited. He told his family, but they didn’t believe him.

Do you think Bertie's mother liked the lion cub?

Bertie’s mother sometimes seemed a bit fierce, but she was a big softie really, and she thought that the lion cub looked very cute and harmless too.

What change did the cub bring in Bertie mother?

Answer: His mother came to the rescue with a gun and helped take the lion cub to safety. When they bathed it they discovered it WAS white as Bertie had said. more and she was not ill as often.

Why did Michael Morpurgo write War Horse?

Morpurgo was inspired to write War Horse after meeting veterans of the Great War, who remembered the suffering of the horses. He wanted to write a book from the horses’ point of view and it became a bestseller that was made into a stage play and a film.

What is cub lion?

Noun. 1. lion cub – a young lion. young carnivore, cub – the young of certain carnivorous mammals such as the bear or wolf or lion. king of beasts, lion, Panthera leo – large gregarious predatory feline of Africa and India having a tawny coat with a shaggy mane in the male.

Why do the blue butterflies come to cover the chalk lion?

The lion lives to a good age but when he dies, Bertie, after grieving for a long time, decides to remember him by carving a white lion in the chalk hillside opposite the house. The chalk lion regularly attracts hundreds of blue butterflies who come to drink after a rain shower.

What is the name of the boy in the butterfly lion?

Bertie, a young boy, was always told to stay in the compound. He lived in South Africa, with lots of different animals surrounding him, but then he saw a different lion, a white lion… They become best friends and will never forget each other.