All This And A Bookshop Too
Dorothy Butler
Penguin, $40, pbk
All This And A Bookshop Too is the second volume in the autobiography of the redoubtable Dorothy Butler, children's book authority, mother and, of course, a bookshop owner.
The story starts with Dorothy and Roy Butler deciding to get engaged.
This is in the 1950s and Dorothy is studying to be a teacher while Roy is working his way up in the Chelsea sugar company.
They buy a section on the North Shore and start to build a house there together so that they can move in when they actually get married.
They do this all themselves, with help from friends and even live in a tent for a long while.
Then come the many, many children, about which Dorothy seems to be completely unfazed and not slowed down by for a second.
Dorothy becomes very heavily involved with the Playcentre movement when the children are young.
She had quite advanced ideas about child-rearing, for those days at least, and chronicles her run-ins with various authorities.
There is a significant tale about being told that her very young son was to be left in hospital and not be visited while he was there.
Dorothy wouldn't have this for even a minute.
The bookselling business started almost by accident, it seems.
Dorothy was always recommending books to schools and one day the distributor suggested to her that she sell what she recommended.
Things snowballed from there and her bookshop became a household name.
While doing all this, Dorothy started writing and this also seemed to be a happy accident.
She wrote a thesis about how one of her granddaughters, who has learning difficulties, found books so incredibly important.
The thesis was published and took Dorothy off to international success.
Now retired, Dorothy Butler lives on the west coast in Auckland and seems to have lost none of the drive and humour that she has brought to all the challenges in her life.
This is a wonderful story both for those who like children's books and those who are interested in family life.
- Sophie Fern is a university teaching fellow.
