The Importance of Being Little

Erika Christakis, an early childhood expert at Yale, argues that preschool and kindergarten have reduced learning to scripted lessons and doubtful metrics that too often underrate young children's intelligence. Parents, meanwhile, worry that choosing the wrong program will cost their child a place at the right college, a fear she calls misplaced; ironically, it peaks just as science grows surest that young children are strong thinkers. Christakis describes what it is like to be a small child in an America built by and for adults, where schooling is confused with learning. She looks at children's language, art, imagination and emotional bonds, and offers solutions that go beyond calls for fewer tests and more play. Viking published it in 2016.

Steven Pinker praised Erika Christakis as the surest guide for parents, caregivers and teachers lost in contradictory childrearing advice, and Daniel Gilbert endorsed it as a scientifically grounded case for revolution in early childhood education.