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Born Free
Born Free: The Story of Elsa | Joy Adamson
15 posts | 20 read | 11 to read
Fifty years ago Joy Adamson first introduced to the world the story of her life alongside Elsa the lioness, whom she had rescued as an orphaned cub, and raised at her home in Kenya. But as Elsa had been born free, Joy made the heartbreaking decision that she must be returned to the wild when she was old enough to fend for herself. Since the first publication of Born Free and its sequels Living Free and Forever Free, generations of readers have been enchanted, inspired and moved by these books uplifting charm and the remarkable interaction between Joy and Elsa. Millions have also come to know and love Born Free through the immortal film starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers. But here is the chance to rediscover the original story in this 50th anniversary edition, in the words of the woman who reared Elsa and walked with the lions.
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TheSpineView
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#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: Free Willy

Klou Brilliant! 3y
TheSpineView @Klou 👍📖 3y
56 likes2 comments
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Butterfinger
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Pickpick

I was completely charmed by Elsa and the humans who only wanted the best for her. I know I wouldn't be brave enough to reintroduce a lion, that is totally dependent on me, back into the wild. I wouldn't want to be responsible for attacks on people. But, I appreciate their commitment to Elsa and to her cubs.

#Nonfiction2021 about animals @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Susanita They used to show the movie every year on TV. It would always produce much 😭 3y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Stacking another! Looks great! 3y
Andrew65 Well sone 👏👏👏 A classic! 3y
46 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Butterfinger
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Elsa just died. 😭 You can't get to know a lion and not feel something. This is an old book and since it's about nature, I think it is okay to post.

Leftcoastzen This book made me cry years ago😢 3y
mandarchy I loved LOVED the TV show when I was a kid. 3y
DivineDiana I sobbed uncontrollably in the theater when I saw the movie. 😭 3y
tpixie Ella just died in real life? ( or the book?) I read it ages ago….. 3y
Butterfinger @tpixie this was a compilation of three books of Elsa and her babies. She died in 1961. I apologize if I spoiled it. 3y
40 likes1 stack add5 comments
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TheSpineView
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#FlyHighJuly @Eggs
#BeingFree

I read this book in the 6th grade. I also so the movie. Get book for animal lovers. 💙🦁

Eggs 👏🏻📚👍🏼🦁🤗 4y
58 likes1 comment
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Texreader
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#thankfulThursday

1. Puff the Magic Dragon 🐉, John Denver‘s Take Me Home, Country Roads, & Grizzly Adams‘ theme song
2. I am grateful for my Litten friends @Cosmos_Moon and @TheSpineView for always tagging me! 😘 And I‘m thankful for my family who are everything to me! And I‘m grateful for three of my family members who are on Litsy! @Doll8455 @arielmonsen @freeatlast1137

@GingerAntics Please play! I want to know your fave childhood song!

GingerAntics 🤣😂🤣 want to know that specifically? 🤣😂🤣 Is it limited to one song? I had so many favourite songs. I never stopped singing as a kid. 4y
TheSpineView 😘😘😘 4y
freeatlast1137 I am thankful for you telling me about this, its wonderful! 4y
45 likes4 comments
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Lady_Tigana_20
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My first Litsy post. 💕 Using BORN FREE as my first book for #MayScavengerHunt. Author born on my birthday (January 20th); more than 300 pages; a character dies; made into a movie; and written by an author from different country. #MayMadness @Clwojick @RadicalReader @TheReadingMermaid

Clwojick That sounds like a great book! I‘ll have to check it out ♥️ 6y
tammysue 🙌🏻🙌🏻 6y
Lady_Tigana_20 @Clwojick, not sure if you have ever heard of Christian the lion. There was a book and a famous video about his reunion with former owners. He was bought at Harrods in late 60s and eventually the owners decided he needed to go back to Africa. Joy Adamson‘s ex-husband, George, taught him how to survive in African wild. He even had his own pride. Videos are on YouTube. I read the book about Christian, but I have only ever seen the movie about Elsa. 6y
See All 21 Comments
Clwojick I have heard about Christian, but didn‘t realize there was a book. 6y
Kaye Thanks for the Follow 💕 6y
DivineDiana Welcome to @Litsy! I remember when I saw the movie, I was so moved that I left the theater sobbing! 6y
BeansPage Wow your first Litsy post and it contains one of my hashtags!!! I am so honored sweetheart! You have no idea how much you have honored me with this post. A very big welcome to Litsy to you my dear! 🎉🎉🎉 I look forward to seeing more of your posts in the future. 😘🤗😘 6y
DarcysMom Welcome to Litsy! 🤩 6y
BarbaraJean Welcome to Litsy!! 🎉📚🎉 6y
Chelleo Welcome to Litsy! Hope these #Litsytips by @RaimeyGallant http://bit.ly/litsytips and #LitsyHowTo videos: goo.gl/UrCpoU are helpful. There‘s so many fun things to do: book exchanges, buddy reads, photo challenges and more! #LitsyWelcomeWagon 6y
MemoirsForMe Welcome! Welcome! 🤗💕📚📚📚 6y
DebinHawaii Welcome to Litsy!! 🎉📚🎉Hope you enjoy it here! 6y
BooknerdsLife Welcome to Litsy 🙌🏼📚💖 6y
RaimeyGallant Welcome! 6y
SW-T Welcome to Litsy 😊 6y
Buechersuechtling Welcome @Lady_Tigana_20 to this warm-hearted bookish network. I really love it here and soon got kind of addicted. As I started here I was thinking about opening my own blog but hesitated because I knew this would cost time that I could not spend reading. Additionally there was the GDPR coming up … As I then discovered @Litsy I found out that it was exactly what I was looking for: A reading log with short reviews and communication with others. 6y
Libby1 Welcome to Litsy! ❤️📚❤️ I love your angel cat. 6y
Tex2Flo Very cool to read an author sharing your birthday. Might be an interesting #popsugar or #bookishbingo challenge. (edited) 6y
ladym30 Welcome to Litsy❤️ 6y
BookmarkTavern Welcome to Litsy! ❤️📚❤️ 6y
PurpleyPumpkin Welcome to Litsy! It's a great community and I hope you enjoy it here.😉 6y
68 likes2 stack adds21 comments
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gradcat
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#ManicMonday

1. Tagged—“Born Free,” by Joy Adamson
2. “Born Free,” movie adapted from tagged book
3. Lion,” by Toto

#emojimadness

JoScho 🦁💛🦁 6y
TheSpineView I was thinking Born Free too. Now I'll have to think of something else. 🤣 6y
gradcat @TheSpineView I‘m so sorry! I hate it when that happens to me. 😐 6y
TheSpineView @gradcat No worries. I had a moment of inspiration and thought of some good ones. 😊 6y
gradcat @TheSpineView 👍♥️ 6y
63 likes5 comments
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Weaponxgirl
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Bailedbailed

Sor this is my second bail this month so it's not going well reading wise right now. What was accomplished with elsa the lion was an important part of conservation, I won't dispute this. But I'm not liking this book at all. I know things are periods of their times but the colonial attitude of the author is grating on me combined with the fact that she seems to personify the type of conservationist who doesn't give a crap about people.

Weaponxgirl Such as an story of taking the lion to the coast and the locals charging more for their goats and being able to afford luxuries they couldn't normally afford. Said lion kills someone's goat that was out alone and they don't confess to it because they don't want people leaving the goats untended and then claiming compensation for them. And she didn't feel bad because they'd been overcharged before by the locals. Cool, local people suck right? 😑 6y
Weaponxgirl Also the lion loves Europeans but didn't like Africans , wonder where the lion got that from considering her mum was killed by her European husband. This sort of thing I can only read for so long before I'm pissed off with the narrator 6y
Weaponxgirl Lastly after doing a little research I found the beloved sir David Attenborough talking about how what they did with elsa was amazing but she was apparently awful to her staff and in his lovely way you can tell he didn't like as a person when he met her. So all in all i say watch a documentary about this but don't bother with the book if you have sensibilities like mine. 6y
Kaye The lady at our local bookstore read this and other things that were about this couple. She said the woman was a real *****, and the man not much better. 6y
Weaponxgirl @Kaye that was the impression I got from the book before I dug a little further. 6y
44 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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Weaponxgirl
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That moment when you pop into the library to return books and only get one out that's on your mental tbr list and come out with a #libraryhaul.
Also for #uklittens have you checked out the kindle summer sale? I picked up a few good looking books there even though I'm broke.

Oryx I love Born Free 6y
Sophoclessweetheart Anaïs Nin ??? 6y
Herschelian See you have a book of Carol Ann Duffy‘s poetry in your haul , I think she is terrific. 6y
Weaponxgirl @Herschelian I've heard such great things about her and this looked like my kind of thing completely 6y
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JennyBookworm
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Choosing a favorite animal is hard, but I have to pick the lion 🦁 I've always been drawn to them ❤️
Congratulations @CoffeeCatsBooks on your 15k ⭐ and thank you so very much for the generous giveaway!!!
#payitforward

BarbaraTheBibliophage OMG, my mom and I watched Born Free so many times when I was little! 🦁🦁🧡🧡 7y
JennyBookworm @BarbaraTheBibliophage I still cry ! (Book and movie!) 7y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @JennyBookworm I would too! Now I have to find it and watch or read. 7y
JennyBookworm @BarbaraTheBibliophage They have it for sale or rent on Amazon Prime Video if you do that 7y
CoffeeCatsBooks I love seeing everyone‘s favorite animals! 🦁💕 7y
72 likes5 comments
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rubyslippersreads
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Cinfhen Nice 🦁💕 7y
Oryx Elsa! 😍 7y
MemoirsForMe I remember that book! 😊👍🏻 7y
RealBooks4ever Did you ever see the movie? I cried and cried... 😭 7y
rubyslippersreads @RealBooks4ever I saw it a long time ago. Might be time for a rewatch. 🦁 7y
75 likes5 stack adds5 comments
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BarbaraTheBibliophage
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I went with three nonfiction and two fiction for today's #lyricalApril #Africa prompt. I listened to The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency so long ago and loved all of them! Little Bee was much more challenging, but gives a glimpse of the tragedies in Africa. Born Free is an intense childhood memory for me. My mom LOVED this story. Don't Let's Go is odd but interesting. And the Dian Fossey is a book I'd love to read!

Clare-Dragonfly My grandparents loved Born Free--my parents still have Nana's stuffed lion, Elsa. 8y
Texreader I ❤️ Born Free and have passed that love on to my son. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Another message important for our kids to learn. 8y
BookishMe LOVE Mma Ramotswe and Co. Precious is my role model 8y
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DebinHawaii Oh, I loved Born Free growing up--the book and the movie both. 💜🦁 8y
Cinfhen Little Bee was our first bookclub book years ago! LOVED it 💖All these books are 🙌🏻 8y
Miss_Kim Great choices! 8y
99 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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LeahBergen
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I thought this was a pretty lame pick for today's #Joy prompt but then I realized something. I bought this old edition at a book sale solely because I watched the movie as a child with my Dad ... and so many happy childhood memories came flooding back. Yep. There it is ... joy. #12DaysofXmasPhoto

rubyslippersreads I remember loving both the book and the movie. ❤️❤️❤️ your vintage copy! 8y
Cinfhen Awww, that is a special joyful memory 8y
LauraBrook A great copy, and a lovely story! 😌 8y
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Betty Great book! 8y
Graciouswarriorprincess This always makes me cry because it is so beautiful! 8y
Texreader Love love love ❤️❤️❤️ this movie. And then there was the time I got to share it with my kids. Tears and joy. Yes. Had no idea it was also a book 8y
LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads Thank you! 😀 8y
LeahBergen @LauraBrook Thanks! 😘 8y
LeahBergen @Betty 👍🏼 8y
LeahBergen @Graciouswarriorprincess I know! Any don't EVEN get me going on the YouTube of Christian the Lion! 😭 8y
LeahBergen @Texreader That's lovely that you shared it with your kids, too! 💗 8y
80 likes2 stack adds13 comments
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Leniverse
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I told my partner that today's #12DaysOfXmasPhoto challenge was about #joy and he immediately said "Born free". At my confused look he said, "Book related, right? Born Free. By Joy Adamson." At my continued blank look I got a book synopsis.

LeahBergen My pick, too!! 😂😂😂 8y
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