Dorothy Butler

Dorothy Butler
Born	Muriel Dorothy Norgrove (1925-04-24) 24 April 1925 Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand
Died	20 September 2015(2015-09-20) (aged 90) Te Atatū Peninsula, Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation(s)	Author, bookseller, memoir writer, reading advocate
Known for	Children's literature, Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop

Muriel Dorothy Butler (born Norgrove, 24 April 1925 – 20 September 2015) was a prominent New Zealand author specializing in children's literature, as well as a bookseller, memoir writer, and advocate for reading. Her achievements were recognized with the Eleanor Farjeon Award.

Personal life

Born in Grey Lynn, Auckland, Butler was the daughter of William Victor and Emily Isobel Norgrove. She completed her secondary education at Auckland Girls' Grammar School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Auckland University College in 1947. That same year, she wed Roy Edward Butler, and together they raised eight children.

Butler died on 20 September 2015 in Te Atatū Peninsula, Auckland.

Work

Butler established the Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop in Auckland, which remains in operation today under different management. The shop's formative years were documented in the April 1977 edition of Horn Book magazine.

Canadian author Michele Landsberg commended Butler’s work Babies Need Books as groundbreaking and highly approachable, emphasizing its engaging style and practical guidance. Landsberg also highlighted Cushla and Her Books as a powerful narrative illustrating how picture books positively impacted the life of a child with multiple disabilities, making it essential reading for parents and educators alike. The story of Cushla was also featured by Jim Trelease across various editions of The Read-Aloud Handbook.

Honours and awards

Butler earned a Diploma in Education from the University of Auckland through her research focused on her granddaughter Cushla, who had severe disabilities; this research was later transformed into the book Cushla and Her Books.

In 1980, she was awarded the Children's Book Circle’s Eleanor Farjeon Award. She became the second recipient of the Margaret Mahy Award in 1992, delivering a lecture entitled Telling Tales. The Children's Literature Association recognized her contributions with their Award for Services to Children's Literature in 1991 (now known as the Betty Gilderdale Award).

Her services to children's literature were further acknowledged when she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1993 New Year Honours.

Non-fiction

• Babies Need Books
• Children, Books and Families
• Cushla and Her Books
• Five to Eight: Vital Years for Reading
• Reading Begins at Home: Preparing Children for Reading Before They Go to School (co-authored with Marie Clay)

Autobiography

• There Was a Time
• All This and a Bookshop Too

Children's books

• Another Happy Tale
• Bears, Bears, Bears
• Behave Yourself, Martha
• Birthday Rain
• The Breakdown Day
• A Bundle of Birds
• By Jingo! A Tale of Old New Zealand
• Come Back Ginger: A Tale of Old New Zealand
• Davy's Ducks: A Tale of Old New Zealand
• Farm Boy, City Girl
• "Farmer Beetroot's Birthday"
• Farmyard Fiasco
• Good Morning, Mrs. Martin
• A Happy Tale
• Hector, an Old Bear
• Higgledy Piggledy Hobbledy Hoy
• Just a Dog
• The Little, Little Man
• Lulu
• My Brown Bear Barney (and sequels)
• My Monkey Martha
• O'Reilly and the Real Bears
• Seadog: A Tale of Old New Zealand
• Smile Please, Martha
• What a Birthday!
• What Peculiar People!
• Where's Isabella?

Anthology Collections

• For Me, Me, Me: Poems for the Very Young
• I Will Build You a House: Poems
• The Magpies Said: Stories and Poems from New Zealand
• Reading for Enjoyment for 0-6 Year Olds

Additional Reading

• Du Chateau, Carroll, "Dorothy and her books," New Zealand Herald, 12 June 1999, page J4.

External Resources

• Wheelers NZ: Works by Dorothy Butler