Childhood Studies

Class does make a difference in the lives and futures of American children. Drawing on in-depth observations of black and white middle-class, working-class, and poor families, Unequal Childhoods explores this fact, offering a picture of childhood today. Here are the frenetic families managing their children's hectic schedules of "leisure" activities; and here are families with plenty of time but little economic security.

When Misty was six years old, her family started to live and dress like the Amish. Misty and her sister were kept as slaves on a mountain ranch where they were subjected to almost complete isolation, sexual abuse, and extreme physical violence. When Misty reached her teens, her parents feared she and her sister would escape and took them to an Amish community where they were adopted and became baptized members. Misty was devastated to once again find herself in a world of fear, animal cruelty, and sexual abuse.

For hundreds of years, the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table has been one of the world's most precious literary possessions. In 1902, the distinguished American artist Howard Pyle undertook to retell and illustrate this classic. His four-volume work has long been considered one of the outstanding interpretations of the Arthurian cycle.

Screenwise offers a realistic and optimistic perspective on how to thoughtfully guide kids in the digital age. Many parents feel that their kids are addicted, detached, or distracted because of their digital devices. Using the foundation of their own values and experiences, parents and educators can learn about the digital world to help set kids up for success in a world fueled by technology.

World-renowned poet and Professor of African American Studies at U.C., Berkeley, June Jordan writes a deeply personal memoir of her formative years. June recalls her childhood experiences and reveals the duality of her parents’ influence on her stellar achievement as a poet. The first 12 years in Harlem were both peaceful and tumultuous for June, as she was raised the daughter of dirt-poor West Indian immigrants.

Las infancias son libres. Deben serlo. En esta serie volvemos a ser niñes gracias a ensayos escritos con las manos, pero también con el corazón, tomando la ternura radical como fuerza erradicadora del adultocentrismo. En infancias libres hacemos dos manifiestos por les niñes, honramos a las infancias diversas, a aquellas que injustamente han perdido su libertad; pero también, a las infancias que crecieron, como muchxs de nosotrxs, lastimadxs. Así, formulamos un diccionario de la no violencia para por fin dar a les niñes el lugar que merecen.

Embark on a transformative journey with "Feel Good Learning," a must-listen guide to unlocking success and well-being in whatever you're learning! Dr. Deena Kara Shaffer, a nationally recognized learning specialist and sought out speaker, reveals the secrets to learning that sticks, heals, and feels good.

In the wake of 2020, we need today's young learners to be prepared to develop solutions to a host of entrenched and complex issues, including systemic racism, massive environmental problems, deep political divisions, and future pandemics that will severely test the effectiveness and equity of our health policies. What better place to start that preparation than with a social studies curriculum that enables elementary students to envision and build a better world?

As a young mother and new home educator, Leah was overwhelmed by the breadth of available resources. How to know which to choose? What would best guide and inspire her children? Whose voices should she trust? That’s when she discovered the timeless work and words of Charlotte Mason. A groundbreaking and revolutionary voice in education, Charlotte breathed life and beauty back into childhood in a stiff archaic age, opening the eyes of parent-teachers and the hearts of students—and changing the future of home education.

When trying to deal with our current troubles and anxieties, it can be deeply irritating to be asked to consider our childhoods. They happened so long ago; we can probably barely remember, let alone relate to, the little person we once were. But one of the most powerful explanations for why we may, as adults, be struggling, is that we were denied the opportunity to fully be ourselves in our earliest years. This book is a guide to better understanding our younger selves in order to shape who we wish to be in the future.

At the heart of this groundbreaking book are two urgent questions: What do our young children need in the earliest years of school, and how do we ensure that they all get it? Cutting-edge research has proven that early childhood education is crucial for all children to gain the academic and emotional skills they need to succeed later in life. Children who attend quality pre-K programs have a host of positive outcomes including better language, literacy, problem solving, and math skills down the line.

The social perception of masculinity is very black and white: one is either an alpha male or a beta male, and there can be no variation. However, this is not the reality of masculinity in today's society. Non-alpha males exist somewhere in the middle of the masculinity spectrum and are far more common than most people realize.

Maya Angelou, one of the best-loved authors of our time, shares the wisdom of a remarkable life in this best-selling spiritual classic. This is Maya Angelou talking from the heart, down to earth and real, but also inspiring. This is a book to be treasured, a book about being in all ways a woman, about living well, about the power of the word, and about the power of spirituality to move and shape your life. Passionate, lively, and lyrical, Maya Angelou’s latest unforgettable work offers a gem of truth in every minute. 

Part memoir, part manifesto, Chamorro climate activist Julian Aguon's No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a coming-of-age story and a call for justice—for everyone, but in particular, for Indigenous peoples. Aguon weaves together stories from his childhood in the villages of Guam with searing political commentary about matters ranging from nuclear weapons to global warming. Bearing witness and reckoning with the challenges of truth-telling in an era of rampant obfuscation, he culls from his own life experiences to illuminate a collective path out of the darkness.

With sweeping brushstrokes, God painted his creation across the emptiness. “Let there be light”, he called into the darkness, and a sweep of brightness blazed across the blank canvas. The Story for Children isn’t just another collection of Bible stories - it’s "The Story" - the big picture of God’s enormous love for his children! Presented by New York Times best-selling author and pastor Max Lucado with Randy Frazee and Karen Hill, these 48 pivotal stories show how God has a grand and glorious vision.

Suzuki teacher and author, Christine Goodner, explores what it takes to make music lessons work in our busy, modern lives in her first book, Beyond the Music Lesson: Habits of Successful Suzuki Families. Using exclusive interviews, current research, and Goodner’s own experience as a student, parent, and teacher, this book gives practical advice, specific ideas, and big-picture concepts sure to help every parent who listens to it.

I think there is real hope to be found, in the middle of our deepest traumas, in the good news about Jesus Christ. I also think that there is a place for us to find hope and community within the church. Because of these two beliefs, I truly think, distant though it may be, that we may even get to a place of peace within our souls and a place of forgiveness for those who hurt us so much. 

In this book, Stormie Omartian shows women how to pray through life's most difficult times. Features Joni Eareckson Tada, Catherine Hart Weber, Linda Mintle, and others.

Learning about the Bible is more fun and engaging than ever! The best-selling Read with Me Bible, NIrV provides early listeners ages four-eight with 106 easy-to-relisten Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments. Children love it. Parents trust it. Easy to listen and easy to understand, the Read with Me Bible, NIrV will quickly become your child’s favorite Bible, as it has for thousands and thousands of other children. The Read with Me Bible, NIrV will instill a love of God’s Word in your child as they snuggle up and listen to it with you.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technologies had become deeply embedded in children’s lives, despite a growing body of research detailing the harms of excessive immersion in the unregulated, powerfully seductive, profit-driven world of the “kid-tech” industry. In Who’s Raising the Kids? Linn—one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of Big Tech and big business on children—explores the roots and consequences of this monumental shift toward a digitized, commercialized childhood, focusing on kids’ values, relationships, and learning.