The Moral Intelligence of Children

Starred review from December 30, 1996
Child psychiatrist Coles, who won a Pulitzer for The Spiritual Life of Children, now tackles the daunting subject of how parents, relatives and teachers give shape to children's moral values and behavior. Drawing on case studies, talks with parent groups, visits to nurseries and classrooms and interviews with children, the Harvard Medical School professor demonstrates that character develops from the very start of life and throughout adolescence, molded by parents' often unself-conscious moral guidance. Further, he documents that children have an innate moral curiosity, a hunger for adults to tell them how they should behave in various situations, and why. The shared, daily experience between emotionally connected adults and their children seems to be the crucial factor in instilling a well-developed moral sense, as underscored by Coles's tales of absent, detached or hurtful parents who raise destructively self-absorbed or morally adrift youth. Written with his customary acute perceptiveness, this important inquiry will enlighten parents, teachers and caregivers concerned with children's moral intelligence. 75,000 first printing; author tour.

September 15, 1996
In keeping with current concerns, noted psychiatry professor Coles tells us how to make our children not just smart but good.

November 15, 1996
In a life largely dedicated to "trying to understand how children of various backgrounds acquire their particular assumptions, beliefs, and values," Coles has written (or coauthored) more than 50 books. In this slim, challenging volume, the Harvard psychiatrist and professor offers parents and teachers serious, this-is-how-it-works/this-is-why-it-matters advice about developing character in children and about moral behavior as a response to "moral "experiences" as they take place, day after day, in a family, a classroom." Coles examines the nature of the moral imagination, what we mean when we distinguish between a good person and a not-so-good person, and the moral crossroads children as well as adults confront. The core of the book addresses "The Moral Archaeology of Childhood," discussing children's moral development and particular dilemmas characteristic of different stages and suggesting appropriate adult responses to children in the early years, the elementary school years, and adolescence. A closing "Letter to Parents and Teachers" stresses the value of "stories" in clarifying moral values and priorities but insists on the vital role of adult "behavior": if one hopes to teach a child moral principles, one must make a constant effort to live those principles. Expect attention. ((Reviewed November 15, 1996))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1996, American Library Association.)