A Lion Called Christian

The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion

By: Anthony Bourke, John Rendall

Narrated by: John Lee

In 2008 an extraordinary two-minute film clip appeared on YouTube® and immediately became an international phenomenon. It captures the moving reunion of two young men and their pet lion, Christian, after they had left him in Africa to introduce him into his rightful home in the wild.

A Lion Called Christian tells the remarkable story of how Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall, visitors to London from Australia in 1969, bought the boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London’s King’s Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity. But the lion cub was growing up–fast–and soon even the walled church garden where he went for exercise wasn’t large enough for him. A coincidental meeting with English actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions.

©2009 Anthony Bourke and John Rendall (P)2009 Listening Library

Enjoyable listen.

What did you love best about A Lion Called Christian?

The author's narrative style was simple, but engaging. I believe the story accurately portrays the state of knowledge of the

What other book might you compare A Lion Called Christian to and why?

The books and movies about Elsa (Born Free, etc.)

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

He has an excellent grasp of storytelling techniques; dramatic pauses, inflection, tone, cadence, etc.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I certainly could have, but I listen to audiobooks on the road so the listen is usually dictated by the distance.

Athouroughly entertaining listen

Would you listen to A Lion Called Christian again? Why?

This is a very entertaining book. I absolutely enjoyed the humour, the humanity and the insight into how like a human a lion can be.

What did you like best about this story?

Having seen the Your Tube footage, I had a visual for some of the antics and the relationship between the boys and Christian. The book gave me more details ... which my mind easily turned into visuals.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love being read to and the experience is always enhanced by a good naration ... which John Lee does very well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Would that have been easy to do ... absolutely.

Any additional comments?

This book is an easy 'read'. It is entertaining and real. I loved it!

Heartwarming story about Christian the lion

Quick read on a true life story of two friends that buy a lion cub at Harrod's department store in the late 1960s. Their experiences raising the cub into adolescence and ultimately returning him to his natural habitat with the help of a well-known naturalist George Adamson is truly amazing.

The story sparked renewed interest after a video appeared on YouTube showing the two friends reuniting with the lion, Christian, in the African wild. It's a beautiful moment to witness. I found the story of how these two young men were able to form such a close bond with a lion inspiring. It gave me newfound respect and awareness for the welfare of these creatures in their natural and unnatural habitats.

From YouTube, now I listen their whole story

Their story so captivating, about remarkable bond between human and a lion. Shamelessly I shed tears while listening. John Lee is really good bringing the story alive. Now I venture other audiobooks narrated by him.

An amazing true story!

What did you love best about A Lion Called Christian?

The fact that it is a true story and it was told well.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Lion Called Christian?

The ability of Christian to remember his keepers and respond so to them when they returned to Africa to see him once more.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I don't know...it was a straightforward story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

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