“I gifted my colour to add to your art, but know that true beauty lies deep in your heart.”
These are the words that were echoed by Prestwich Primary School pupils following a read aloud session with local children’s author, Helene Pam on Wednesday February 5.
Fortune smiled upon the young minds at the school as Ms Pam donated more than 600 copies of her children’s book, The Glasswinged Butterfly, to the pupils.
The book is about reflection, transformation, and the discovery of inner beauty and one’s own worth.
It tells the story of a glass-winged butterfly that felt different from other colourful butterflies and went on a long journey to find beauty, asking different creatures to paint it with different colours while losing its essence before finally coming back home, and to the realisation that it had always been beautiful.
Ms Pam said she used to write for her children when they were young to teach them important life lessons.
“I wanted them to believe in themselves, because when I was growing up , I never had that. I had no self-esteem and I wanted my children to be different and I started writing stories on how beautiful and how important they were,” she said.
Touching on the questions that started the transformational journey of the story, Ms Pam said she thought long and hard about our purpose, the meaning of true beauty and what it took to be the best we can be.
“Butterflies have always had a special meaning for me because not only are they beautiful, but they remind me of how short and fragile life is and they remind us how little time we have in the world to learn our lessons and shine light in the world,” she said.
She said when her children were older, she packed the stories away because she didn’t believe she could achieve her dream until six years ago, when her daughter, the illustrator of her books, suggested to do something about the stories that she taught them while they were young.
Ms Pam said she’s always wanted to reach children who don’t have an opportunity to read the book and those who can’t have access to the workshops she runs.
She said she went to people who believed in what she was doing, among whom were the Holmes family who sponsored the printing of the copies which were donated to children in different schools.
“All my story books have deep life lessons. There’s a huge importance to teach these young children important lessons that we don’t often think about imparting.
“I feel really blessed and grateful to be doing this,” she said.
Ms Pam said she hoped the pupils would see the importance of reading and hold on to the book.
For more information on the book, send an email to Helene@PurpleSplashStudios.com or go to www.purplesplashstudios.com