John Holt (1923-1985) was an enlightened educator who spent almost his entire life observing children of all ages and drawing useful and valuable conclusions, which he recorded in this book.

He explores the ways in which children learn and tries to show parents and teachers that for the child, learning is as natural as breathing. He examines the processes of learning speech, reading, mathematics, and art.

As he famously states, "Children learn because they are interested and curious, not to please or reassure adults. They must take charge of what they learn and decide for themselves what they want to learn and how they want to learn it." [Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]