Good, happy reading for parents and children

Press, 18 October 1980, Page 10

Good, happy reading for parents and children

“Babies need Books.” It’s a catchy title, but the Auckland author, Dorothy Butler, is serious about her subject. You may 7 need a bit of convincing if you are awash with the nappies, the feeding schedule, and in need of ’ an uninterrupted night's sleep. Mrs Butler’s latest book, a very readable manual, should do it. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Her reasoning makes sense. She has the qualifications and experience to know’ what she is talking aout. In-May, her British publishers flew her to England to. receive the prestigious Eleanor Farjeon Award, for her services to children’s literature. Recently, she was in Christchurch to talk about her guide to good, happy reading for parents and children. ■ Many parents will fmd . her personal qualifications as important as her early teaching career, the diploma in education she' obtained later, and her experience in running both a children’s bocj: shop in Auckland, and remedial reading classes. Dorothy Butler brought up eight- children on books. They, thrived. They are now bringing up their awn children on books. You will get to know some of Mrs Butler’s children and grandchildren in “Babies need Books.” One granddaughter, who is severely handicapped, led to Dorothy Butler’s acclaim abroad.

(It is a fact of life Mrs Butler has'come to accept that she has a far wider public in Britain and the United States than in New Zealand.) “Cushla and her Books,” (Hodder and Stoughton, 1979)."was an adaptation of her study for which she received her diploma in education from the University of Auckland. It is widely read. overseas, .is available in an American edition, and is now translated into Japanese. Its success led to Bodley Head commissioning her latest publication. It will also, publish her next book, - a successor to “Babies need Books,”

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which will cover children from five to eight years. Dorothy Butler .regards books as a basic tool for forging relationships between parents and children. We communicate through language, she points out. So, sharing and enjoying the learning process together, can bind families. Her book covers a recommended selection of the best in children’s literature for children up ro the age of six. Start, she says when you bring your baby home. “Babies are learning to read from,, the moment they, open their eyes. The basis of reading is tlw gradual development of thought .through language. What’s .going on in a baby’s mind is most important.

LEONE STEWART

“It is my belief,” she writes, “that there is no ‘parent’s aid’ which can compare with the book in its capacity to establish and maintain a relationship with a child. Its effects extend far beyond the - covers of the actual book, and invade every aspect of life. Parents and children who share books come to share the same frame of reference.

“Books can be bridges between children and parents, and children, in. the world:”

The sharing begins with the new baby, ■ who can begin to focus on the bright covers and’pictures of first books. Babies, Mrs

Butler • maintains, will be much more stimulated by the reading- of a story than constant -“baby talk,” It will be much more interesting for parents, too.

She stresses the point that ail through early reading years parents should enjoy the books they read to their children. Her descriptions of both art and story-line in the books she recommends for each age group reveal all the ingredients of humour, suspense, and rollicking action that make for entertaining, escapist reading.

“Many New Zealand parents think non-fiction is more valuable than fiction. But. the children who are very keen readers of fiction are those who, in

the end, will read non-fic-tion most of all.”

The chapters are titled with headings from AA. Milne’s “Now We Are Six” — “When I was One. I had just begun . . .” Each ends with a handy list of recommended reading. ' ' .Mrs Butler knows well the bewilderment .felt by many parents -confronting the rich range of children's literature available these days. . She regrets the absence of much good fiction for the two-to-three-year-old group. But the success of a book like “Harry the Dirty Dog” “demonstrates the power of a fine story to enthrall.” It also shows, in her opinion, the very young child’s instinctive sense of discrimination. / Dorothy Butler give's the illustrators of today’sSuperb children’s' picture books due credit. How-, she warns that the story is paramount. The pictures are there to support the action. “Parents are inclined to keep emphasising the illustrations when their children are ready to be almost exclusively involved in the story,” she says. “Anyone can look at a beautiful children’s book and love it. Not so many people can read a text and judge it correctly.” The four-.to-six stage is the age, she writes, when children ban be introduced to books ■ less . dependent on' illustration's for instant appeal. Dorothy Butler acts as a literary agent. Her ex-

perier.ee has ‘ been that New Zealand, jhas many fine artists. lt?is.the good writers who are hard - to find: “We are not raising enough people who are articulate — who can write, speak, think.? 3 Poetry is one of 'her great literary loves. Children react, 'she tells?-us, with unselfconscious joy to its imagery.- rhythm, and rhyme. In reading aloud children's poetry, uninitiated parents may also discover a pleasure in language ton its own. sake. “Babies need Books” provides plenty of sensible; advice/ on the traditional fairy stories; on books about sensitive subjects like birth, death, adoption; about' rag books for babies (she doesn’t like them), story reading' sessions (make time in the morning), taking your children to te library; about “big” books,.-information books, Dr Seuss books. ; c . ' In /'an effort-to teach their children -to appreciate books, many conscientious New Zealand parents seem to attach more importance to the object than the contents. Dorothy Butler has found even babies soon learn to handle books with care if they are surrounded by them: “Books are remarkably durable. They will be in ’the shelves when the toys are gone. But some books should be considered expendable in the learning process.”

Dorothy Butler is somewhat depressed by the tendency to the sex-stereo-typing of childen she often'encounters in moth-, ers. .? -

“They come into my shop with all the right ideas of finding books about spirited heroines for their daughters to identify with, then type-cast their son’s interests. They seem to think little boys should only be interested in earth-moving machines, and war.”

New Zealanders’ preoccupation with sport has 'bred in modern children.

Mrs Butler contends, an attitude that outdoor activities are fun, and that reading is a duty. “Some of our teachers, too — the most conscientious of people — find no joy in reading themselves.” Reading is fun for Dorothy Butler. The child’s persistent request of ‘‘Read it again” will always be the highest accolade.” ? "