Childhood

A Multicultural View

Companion book to the nine-hour, award-winning PBS television series, “Childhood.”

Childhood ppb cover

“[Konner] has the kind of synthetic vision the task requires. His book moves with ease and grace from describing the universal biological changes of childhood to noting how children are reared in such diverse settings as the Kalahari Desert in Africa, a kibbutz in Israel and a village in Russia. The text is leavened with eloquent literary excerpts and an unusual variety of illustrations. Throughout the book, Dr. Konner displays his unassuming erudition and rare common sense . . . What [he] does very elegantly is bring together contemporary knowledge about the way children mature, learn, and in general change—physically, mentally and emotionally—from conception to adolescence . . . Most important, he reflects on his own experiences in rearing children, thus providing a common-sense model for child care . . .Konner’s answers derive from an evolutionary ethic in which life itself is the greatest good and children are valuable because they are standard-bearers in the continuation of life.”

Mihalyi Czikszentmihalyi, author of Flow, in The New York Times Book Review

“Rather than prescribe a right way and run the risk of giving advice that will look foolish 63 years from now, Konner offers for parental guidance the newest
research results on child development from conception to adolescence. Konner’s style is questioning, groping. His book…is the work of a real parent.”

Constance Casey, The Los Angeles Times

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