A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play

Vivian Gussin Paley. The University of Chicago Press, 2004
Available from press.uchicago.edu

Pulling together decades of anecdotal evidence, this book makes the case for the critical role of fantasy play in children's development. Paley uses these example stories to show how children think, learn, and grapple with the issues surrounding them on their own terms and to make the argument that play is necessary in the classroom despite being challenged by rigorous academic instruction in the early years.