Dorothy Butler Explained

Dorothy Butler
Birth Name:Muriel Dorothy Norgrove
Birth Date:24 April 1925
Birth Place:Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand
Death Place:Te Atatū Peninsula, Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation:Author, bookseller
Spouse:Roy Edward Butler
Children:8
Alma Mater:Auckland University College

Muriel Dorothy Butler (née Norgrove, 24 April 1925 – 20 September 2015) was a New Zealand children's book author, bookseller, memoirist and reading advocate.[1] She was a recipient of the Eleanor Farjeon Award.

Personal life

Butler was born in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn on 24 April 1925,[2] the daughter of William Victor Norgrove and his wife Emily Isobel Norgrove (née Brown).[3] [4] She was educated at Auckland Girls' Grammar School,[2] before studying at Auckland University College, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1947.[5] She became engaged to her future husband, Roy Edward Butler, in August 1945,[3] and they were married in 1947.[6] They went on to have eight children together, six daughters and two sons.

Butler died on 20 September 2015 in Te Atatū Peninsula, Auckland.[7] [8]

Work

She founded the famed Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop in Auckland which remains a going concern, albeit under new ownership. A brief history of the bookshop's early years was reported in the April 1977 issue of the Horn Book magazine.[9]

Canadian writer Michele Landsberg described Butler's Babies Need Books as "a trail-blazing and completely accessible book, written with charm and vivacity and detailed, helpful advice" and said that Cushla and Her Books was notable as "a dramatic, true and detailed account of how the life of a multiply handicapped child was transformed through picture books. Indispensable for parents and teachers of handicapped children."[10] Jim Trelease retold the story of Cushla in several editions of The Read-Aloud Handbook.

Honours and awards

Butler was awarded a Diploma in Education from the University of Auckland for her study of her severely handicapped granddaughter Cushla; this research was later adapted for publication as Cushla and Her Books.

Butler won the Children's Book Circle Eleanor Farjeon Award in 1980.[11]

In 1992, Butler became the second recipient of the Margaret Mahy Award, whose winners present and publish a lecture concerning children's literature or literacy.[12] [13] Butler's lecture was titled Telling Tales. In 1991 she was awarded the Children's Literature Association's Award for Services to Children's Literature (now Betty Gilderdale Award).[14]

In the 1993 New Year Honours, Butler was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to children's literature.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

Autobiography

Children's books

Anthologies

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Interviews with NZ Childrens Authors: Dorothy Butler . 5 October 2011 . 9 November 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111109022848/http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/ChildrensAuthors/DorothyButler.asp . live .
  2. Web site: Interview with Dorothy Butler . 2002 . Christchurch City Libraries . 21 September 2015 . 11 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190411100017/https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/new-zealand-childrens-authors/dorothy-butler/ . live .
  3. News: Engagements announced . 22 August 1945 . . 21 September 2015 . 3 . 8 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160308023632/http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19450822.2.23 . live .
  4. News: Marriages . 14 June 1923 . . 21 September 2015 . 1 . 27 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150927175820/http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZH19230614.2.2.3 . live .
  5. Web site: NZ university graduates 1870–1961: Bri–By . 21 September 2015 . 18 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190118123248/http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/university4.html . live .
  6. Book: Taylor . Alister . Coddington . Deborah . Alister Taylor . Deborah Coddington . Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand . 1994 . New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa . Auckland . 0-908578-34-2 . 86.
  7. News: Dorothy Butler death notice . 21 September 2015 . . 20 September 2015 . 23 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923060026/http://notices.nzherald.co.nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/obituary.aspx?n=dorothy-butler&pid=175884278 . live .
  8. News: Beloved literary figure Dorothy Butler dies . 21 September 2015 . Auckland Now . 21 September 2015 . Shane . Cowlishaw . 24 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160224160217/http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/71623251/beloved-literary-figure-dorothy-butler-dies . live .
  9. Web site: A Children's Bookshop in New Zealand: One Family's Enterprise. Horn Book. April 1977. July 16, 2013. 8 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150508215513/http://www.hbook.com/2013/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/a-childrens-bookshop-in-new-zealand/. live.
  10. Book: Landsberg, Michele. 1987. Reading for the Love Of It: Best Books for Young Readers. New York. Prentice Hall Press. 315. 0-13-579822-1. registration.
  11. Web site: Eleanor Farjeon award winners lists . 8 December 2014 . 18 February 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200218100559/http://www.childrensbookcircle.org.uk/pages/the-eleanor-farjeon-award . dead .
  12. Web site: Margaret Mahy Medal Award . 2012 . Christchurch City Libraries . Christchurch, New Zealand . 25 July 2012 . 23 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130323141855/http://www.christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/LiteraryPrizes/ChildrensLiteratureFoundationNZ/MargaretMahy/ . live .
  13. Web site: Margaret Mahy Award . 2012 . Storylines.org.nz . Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand . Auckland, New Zealand . 25 July 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120706024842/http://www.storylines.org.nz/Awards/Margaret%2BMahy%2BAward.html . 6 July 2012 . dmy-all .
  14. Web site: Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award. Storylines. en. 26 November 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042409/https://www.storylines.org.nz/Awards/Storylines+Betty+Gilderdale+Award.html. live.

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