Customer Reviews

Magical Child (Plume)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

The overall message of this book is important for parents and babies; we need to let babies and children grow and develop. We need to provide stimulation and new experiences. We need to keep the little ones close, provide them security and not force Western-style "independence" on them. This keeping close means a natural birth, breastfeeding, holding and talking to- not getting our children attached to things.

I'm just not certain the author reached his conclusions in a way that I endorse since he says many things I absolutely disagree with. In the first chapter, he says about our brains and grey matter, "the amount we have is just what we need for certain goals nature has in mind, such as our dominion over the earth."! I really have a hard time believing that evolution is goal directed, and that humans should have "dominion" over the earth. We have no right to that, and we are destroying the earth as a result of trying to be in control of this planet.

The chapter on "maintaining the matrix", or how to birth babies naturally, is taken right out of LeBoyer's work "Birth without Violence"- a fine book but not without it's flaws. This chapter also explores the development of the naturally birthed and nurtured infant, or at least the ones the author observed in Uganda. These babies are developmentally ahead of the medically birthed babies in Western society, so he says. They push up at birth, sit up at a couple months, run (not just walk!) at 7 months of age. Humph! Amazing babies, right? My baby born by c-section walked and talked much earlier than my naturally born-at-home babies. What happened?!

I don't particularly like the language of this book, but it will work for a lot of people. Many of us in breastfeeding advocacy work learn that people don't always learn intellectually, but they do learn *emotionally*. If some mothers learn to nurture their babies in a hands-on way because of the emotional discussion in this book, more power to them. For those of us who learn differently, "So That's what they're For!" or "Attachment Parenting" might do the trick.

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.

...someone who claims they know what they're talking about on a subject unknown to you, when their command of the basics of other disciplines in questionable at best. First, a 'hologram' is not a unit made up smaller less clear images of the larger unit and Chilton would have you believe. Does he mean fractal? Who knows. I hologram is a 3-d image reproduced from a pattern of interference produced by a split coherent beam of radiation. A holograph is a literary work penned entirely by the author, not a synonym of hologram. When speaking of the evolutionary steps humanity took to get where we are, Chilton seems unable to make it clear that there is no inner want, or direction, to evolution, and to propose such is a gross misrepresentation.

However, when he states that a 3 year old child is not an incomplete 5 year old but a fully functioning 3 year old, my faith in his ability as a psychologist is not shaken. Good book if you can get past the errors. It won't be the only I read on the subject.

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.

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

In Magical Child, Joseph Chilton Pearce presents the idea that our current medical practices around childbirth and our education systems subvert the natural and healthy growth of our greatest human capacities. Pearce builds on the work on the French developmental psychologist Piaget to delineate five stages of human growth, outlining the "natural" biological and psychological processes that help people reach the apex of each of these stages. Unfortunately, he maintains, our modern medical birthing methods and education systems tend to work against these natural processes and trip us up far short of our true human potential. He goes on to cite the work of a number of researchers that suggest better ways of birthing, parenting, and educating.

There are some keen insights here, but unfortunately they are buried within an intellectually muddled and scientifically dishonest presentation. For example, in the introductory chapters, Pearce speaks about human development from a very materialistic (and atheistic) view of human evolution, while often in the same paragraph praising Nature the wonderful "designer" of our human growth, a very theistic view. The significance of the book's central themes -- realization one's full humanity and potential -- is very different in each of these worldviews, and Pearce avoids revealing which side of the fence he sits on. He is similarly dishonest in his use of scientific research. He likes to quote from researchers -- when they agree with his theories. Contradictory scientific evidence isnt mentioned, except in a few cases where he merely dismisses it without discussion. This is unfortunate, because it's the weighing of seemingly contractictory evidence that science has tended to make its greatest leaps. Too bad Pearce wasnt brave enough to put his own theories to that test.

I read this book during my first pregnancy and have reread it or skimmed it several times since. So much information, inspiration, and insight - one of the most influential parenting books I've read. I tell every pregnant woman I know to read it BEFORE she has a baby, because there is so much in the book that can cause regret if you don't read it ahead of time and use the information to inform your pregnancy and birth practices. But also there is tons of information about raising children - stuff I have hardly seen anywhere else. Highly recommended! Especially in conjunction with The Continuum Concept: In Search Of Happiness Lost (Classics in Human Development) by Jean Liedloff and The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot.

Oh, and by the way, the "most critical review" states that JCP doesn't know what he's talking about referring to the holographic nature of the universe - but this is something that is consistent with many, many spiritual books (including the forementioned The Holographic Universe). I will admit, the book gets difficult in certain parts, but it is well worth wading through!

I read this while pregnant, and what a wonderful book of insights and wisdom and compassion. Here it is, if you're looking for a caring philosophy to raise your child to be human in an often less than human world. Initially I was critical of some of his claims and theories, but his arguments and evidence rang true. Couple this book with a good Waldorf education, and who knows, we might make it yet!