Children are a wonder, a blessing, a miracle, and everyone has an opinion on how we should raise them. From novelists to pediatricians and from modern parenting “experts” to child psychologists, is the first anthology of its kind, showcasing a range of the most influential writing about children over the past four hundred years. Published chronologically, the extracts featured in this delightful compendium show the extent to which some of our attitudes have changed while others remain absolute, and remind us of the joy that children have always brought to our lives. Contributors include:  Erik H. Erikson on shame and guilt; Marvin J. Gersh on how to raise children in your “spare time”; Naomi Stadlen on how parenting books undermine parenting by reducing it to a number of essential tasks; and Donald Winnicott on “the good-enough mother.” Plus: memoir, fiction, and further opinion from Daniel Burgess, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, Isabella Beeton, Charles Darwin, Robert Louis Stevenson, James Sully, Maria Montessori, Bertrand Russell, Margaret Mead, Jean Piaget, Harry F. Harlow, Benjamin Spock, Marvin J. Gersh, Toni Morrison, Lydia Davis, Alison Gopnik, Giuseppina Persico, Cleon C. Mason, Bernardine Evaristo, Ella Cara Deloria, John B. Watson, and Rosalie Rayner.