“This book helps us to more fully comprehend what Italians mean when they speak of a culture of childhood.”
—From the Foreword by Carolyn Pope Edwards

“Read this book for its sociological significance, but also read it for its universal portrayal of the typical turmoils of children's experiences.”
—Peter Adler, University of Denver and Patti Adler, University of Colorado

“A path-breaking contribution ….this is no quick-and-dirty ethnography, but a model of how exemplary scholars can collaborate to produce a work that challenges our imagination of how early education must be organized.”
—Gary Alan Fine, John Evans Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University, author of With the Boys: Little League Baseball and Preadolescent Culture

“Corsaro and Molinari are here addressing many questions posed by North Americans interested in Italian education of young children.”
—Lella Gandini, Reggio Children U.S. liaison for dissemination of the Reggio Emilia Approach

What happens when children in creative, Reggio-like preschools go to a more traditional elementary school? In this book, William Corsaro and his Italian co-author, Luisa Molinari, tell a complete and important story about the lives of children as they grow from young preschoolers to preadolescents in Modena, Italy. The authors both fully explore and participate in the rich, complex history and development of the Italian early education system. This compelling, ethnographic study:

• Documents how young children in Italy are prepared, or primed, for the transition from preschool to elementary school.
• Examines how the transition relates to academic and social development, including details about the children’s school and peer cultures before, during, and after the transition.
• Includes interviews with parents, teachers, and children, engaging anecdotes, and examples of children’s art and literacy projects.
• Suggests dramatically different approaches that schools and communities can take to support children’s and families’ development and learning.

William A. Corsaro is the Robert H. Shaffer Class of 1967 Endowed Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, Bloomington. Luisa Molinari is Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Parma, Italy.