A Lion to Guard Us

A Lion to Guard Us, published in 1981, was written by Clyde Robert Bulla and illustrated by Michele Chessare. This historical fiction novel, describing the 1609 shipwreck of the Sea Adventure off an island in the Bermudas, is written for elementary school readers. Author Clyde Robert Bulla was a notable American children’s writer whose career spanned six decades and included nearly 100 titles, including works of fiction and nonfiction. He won the inaugural Southern California Council on Children's Literature Award in 1962. In 1982, A Lion to Guard Us was named a Notable Children’s Trade Book in Social Studies.

This guide utilizes the 1981 HarperCollins publication of the novel.

Plot Summary

On a February morning in 1609, an unnamed sailor makes his way to the home of Mistress Trippett in search of Mistress Freebold in London, England. Mistress Freebold is too unwell to speak with him, so Amanda, the eldest daughter, comes to meet with the man. The sailor relays a message to her from her father, who is in Jamestown, Virginia, preparing a home for the family in the “New World.” He thinks of them daily and hopes they will all be together within a year. Once the sailor leaves, Amanda must return to her chores before she can give her younger siblings, Jemmy and Meg, their supper and check on their ill mother.

At night, Amanda tells her siblings stories about the three of them and their family, reminding them of their old home. She focuses particularly on the lion’s head door knocker that their father gave to them when he left for America—he said the lion would protect them. The children keep it safe as a reminder of when their family was all together.

Mistress Freebold does not recover, and she dies. After her mother’s death, Amanda feels lost and tells her siblings another story in which the three siblings leave London and travel to Jamestown. Amanda also tells this story to Mistress Trippett, her employer, who is very displeased and eventually throws the children out into the streets in her fury. The children are homeless and confronted with the poverty of London until the doctor who attended their mother, Dr. Crider, finds them and takes them in. Dr. Crider decides to help the children, providing them with food, shelter, and clothing, and booking them passage on a ship going to Virginia. He plans to go with them and begin a new life in Virginia as well.

Dr. Crider and the children board the Sea Adventure at the port in Plymouth, England, and begin their voyage to the “New World.” They live in the hold, located under the deck, where there are over 100 other people. One night, Dr. Crider does not return from his time looking out at the sea on the deck. Everyone searches the ship, and it is determined that he was swept overboard by the waves. After the loss of Dr. Crider, Amanda is again thrust into the role of caregiver. She struggles, pushing back her fear and sadness, but she ultimately becomes more confident, knowing that she can accept whatever the future holds.

As they make their way to Virginia, the Sea Adventure encounters a great storm and is blown off course. The ship crashes against the rocks of an island in the Bermudas. All of the passengers survive and build homes on the island. The Freebold children have a home all to themselves, and the children begin to relax and enjoy life on the island until their beloved door knocker disappears.

Just before the ships are to depart for Virginia, they learn that Master Waters, a fellow passenger, stole their door knocker, believing it was made of gold rather than brass. Jemmy takes the initiative to get it back. The children board one of the boats headed to Virginia and learn that Jamestown has seen war and disease. When they arrive, the town is mostly deserted. They find their father gravely ill, and Amanda sends her siblings to get him help while she tends to him. Although the situation is dire, Jemmy places the door knocker on a peg on the door of their Jamestown home, and the family is finally reunited under one roof.