Changes

Bella was not supposed to be worked as a youngster as a model for holidaymakers' photos on the Black Sea Coast, but that probably happened before she ended up in a poor Romanian zoo, blind in one eye and losing the sight in the other. Simba was not supposed to be shaking his magnificent maned figure about a circus cage in southern France. But she was, and he was, and things weren't right. Luckily, the zoo was too poor to operate, and people were already on hand to relocate the animals, and fortunately , someone realised the circus was a no-starter as well, when it comes to keeping a fully-grown lion in captivity. In alternating chapters , the two cats' tales eventually combine to one, in this great little read with a heart-warming message.

It's not a brilliantly told tale at times. I could have it up for some language unexplained for the under-tens it wants to win over – 'rehabilitate' is surely not a verb many would find easy. The alternating chapters, with their askew timelines, do not help comprehension much, either. But with the help of scientific box-outs, the perfect counterpoint to the really quite anthropomorphised narrative, we see just how the lions would have suffered, and how much change Born Free would have made.

And we don't always need the words to see what has gone on, for the pictorial content is great. The animals in all stages of their life – Bella both with and without her useless eye, Simba in his cage and wagon, and later in the fields much more suited to him – are captured expertly, and the book is very well designed. What also was of note to me was that while the text mentioned the charity's founder, Virginia McKenna, several times, none of the photos in the narrative caught her once – other people often, but her never. Her name is one to pull many people in to into the charity, but this is not about her, it's all about Bella and Simba, and thankfully with this simple and charming book of faction, it will be about other cats and other animals too in the future. This is not just an advert for a worthwhile charity, it is a vivid example of the difference they can create, and it's well worth your money as a result. You can find the Born Free Foundation [http://www.bornfree.org.uk/ here].

We first met this author with one of her own franchises – [[The Dread Pirate Fleur and the Ruby Heart by Sara Starbuck]]. For more big cat action, there is [[Animal Lives: Cheetahs by Sally Morgan]] and the others in that series. Adults will appreciate [[Born Wild: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Passion for Lions and for Africa by Tony Fitzjohn]].