21 | March | 2016 | Literacy Teaching and Teacher Education

It is common to find educators and parents in search of good books for children. What makes a book good? What is a worthwhile read? What kinds of books do we want children to read? Why? I have discovered a resource for thinking about and finding children’s books and am excited to share it with you.

Helen Antoniades, founder and operator of Butterfly Books, has embarked on a most inspiring journey in search of great books for children.

A front line social worker in Toronto, Ontario Canada, Helen has spent her adult life counselling children and adults from all walks of life. The last 4 years of her practice was at the Hospital for Sick Children. After 17 years of social work Helen, feeling burned out, decided to start something new and explore her passion for healing others in an alternative way. Always passionate about books, she chose to share her knowledge of and experience with using books to help children understand and deal with issues in their lives.

Helen began her search by asking a lot of social worker colleagues for their go to books. Then she began asking friends in related fields. This interest grew into the blog, where she alternated “regular” pictures books with therapeutic books as suggested readings for children. As her journey continued Helen began exploring the “regular” books she was coming across and has broadened her scope to quality books that are reflective of diversity. You can find Helen’s website at:

http://www.butterflychildrensbooks.com

Butterfly Book’s mission statement:

Butterfly Books is a children’s book subscription service whose goal is to make receiving a new book an eagerly anticipated, joyful event with an aim to foster and sustain a love of reading in children.

In addition to creating excitement about reading, the service will give children the opportunity to explore other worlds and experiences through books. Part of the focus will therefore be on ensuring diversity of characters and topics within the books chosen.

This service is also a way to make giving books as a gift more inviting. This personalized approach will connect families through the love of books and the satisfaction of a quality gift given and received.

There is also a handy Facebook page with wall postings that share a book per week. It is an efficient and helpful way to access interesting books and gain insight to how they can be explored with children, often including book reviews.

Check out the website, like the FB page, and get connected with Butterfly Books!