book cover

The Lion Who Stole My Arm: Heroes of the Wild

by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Annabel Wright

Interest age: 7 to 11
Reading age: 7 to 9

Published by Walker Books, 2013

  • Adventure
  • Around the world
  • Chapter books
  • Disability

About this book

As Pedru returns home to his African village after a day’s fishing with friends, he is attacked by a lion. Numb with fear, the young boy is dragged into the undergrowth, and he realises that he will be eaten unless he fights back. Pedru hits the creature hard over the head with a stick, sending it scuttling back into the long grass, but the damage is already done: the lion has bitten off his right arm.

Devasted by the loss of his arm, Pedru is determined to regain his strength so he can hunt and kill the lion who attacked him. His search for the animal leads him to a lion research unit, where he learns more about these formidable creatures, and realises that strength and courage come in many different forms.

Black-and-white illustrations intersperse the chapters of this insightful tale of bravery, determination and compassion. At the end of the book, there is factual information about the plight of lions in the wild.

This uplifting story is one of the excellent Heroes of the Wild series, which is sure to appeal to readers with an interest in animals and conservation.

About the author

Nicola Davies is the author of more than 50 books for children: fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her work has been published in more than 10 different languages and has won major awards in the UK, US, France, Italy and Germany.

Nicola trained as a zoologist, taking a degree in Natural Sciences from King's College, Cambridge. She spent some years as a field biologist and studied humpback and sperm whales, and bats, before joining the BBC Natural History Unit as a researcher and then presenter.

Following the start of her writing career, Nicola became a senior lecturer in creative writing, at Bath Spa University but has been writing full time for over a decade. She now regularly runs workshops for children and adults to help them find their voices as writers and advocates for nature. In 2017, she was the first recipient of the SLA’s award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Non-fiction and in 2018 had four picture books longlisted for the Greenaway Award.

Find out what Nicola Davies is up to as our Writer in Residence

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