Magical Child

by Joseph Chilton Pearce

Book Overview

Magical Child , a classic work, profoundly questioned the current thinking on childbirth pratices, parenting, and educating our children. Now its daring ideas about how Western society is damaging our children, and how we can better nurture them and ourselves, ring truer than ever. From the very instant of birth, says Joseph Chilton Pearce, the human child has only one concern: to learn all that there is to learn about the world. This planet is the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452267897
• ISBN13: 9780452267893
• Release Date: March 1992
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A must read for the open-minded

This is a wonderful book for anyone who is open-minded and interested in the radical potential of the human (child). While it is a difficult read, it is worth it. Pearce presents an intriguing and awesome perspective.

The education for a new and gently brilliant world

This is the best childhood education book I have ever read. Since first picking this book up in the late 70s, I've read it again and again and have probably given away 50 copies to new parents and to educators. If you want a plan to bring your children to golden wisdom, if you seek the roadmap to unfold the mind of genius which lives in your child and in the children around you, read this book. Then give it to your friends and relatives and the teachers at your schools. In this you will know that, like planting a tree, you've sent another messenger to that kind and better future we pray for in our hearts.

What is to be a child?

A very important book, especially for those with children or expecting them. In a very reasoned manner reflecting a great deal of knowledge and research, Pearce discusses the phases every child goes through as it matures. He describes it as a succession of matrices, beginning with the womb-matrix, then the mother-matrix, the earth-matrix and so on. What it boils down to is the there is a time for everything, and we need to support the child's natural unfolding as much as we can. This means not 'abandoning' the infant in the crib, not pushing the pre-schooler too learn to read (ultimately a harmful thing), limiting television viewing and encouraging fantasy and play. There seems to be so much misunderstanding and ignorance with regard to children these days, from tv overload to little league pressure to accelerated academic preparation--all harmful activities because they block a child's healthy development. Wake up everybody! In the final chapters, Pearce goes beyond childhood to explore the possibilities of the human mind per se and give us a glimpse of what lies beyond the self-imposed limits of our reality. A deeply significant work. I also recommend Betty Staley's Between Form and Freedom for a look at what awaits in the adolescent years.

What is a child and what does a child need?

A very important book, especially for those with children or expecting them. In a very reasoned manner reflecting a great deal of knowledge and research, Pearce discusses the phases every child goes through as it matures. He describes it as a succession of matrices, beginning with the womb-matrix, then the mother-matrix, the earth-matrix and so on. What it boils down to is the there is a time for everything, and we need to support the child's natural unfolding as much as we can. This means not 'abandoning' the infant in the crib, not pushing the pre-schooler too learn to read (ultimately a harmful thing), limiting television viewing and encouraging fantasy and play. There seems to be so much misunderstanding and ignorance with regard to children these days, from tv overload to little league pressure to accelerated academic preparation--all harmful activities because they block a child's healthy development. Wake up everybody! In the final chapters, Pearce goes beyond childhood to explore the possibilities of the human mind per se and give us a glimpse of what lies beyond the self-imposed limits of our reality. A deeply significant work. I also recommend Betty Staley's Between Form and Freedom for a look at what awaits in the adolescent years.

Awesome book challenging conventional notions of child birth

Pearce has profoundly penetrated the myths around child birthing and rearing in a sensible and eye-opening manner. I found myself, time and time again, reflecting on what worked and didn't work in my own being reared. This book will leave you present to the magic of life and with a real reverance for what it is to bring a child into this world. I can't recommend it highly enough