Learning from Children in Early Childhood

This book explores the social lives of preschoolers, exploring how they navigate friendship, conflict, and belonging throughout the school year. Through a collection of vivid stories children shared from their own perspectives, plus a thoughtfully curated collection of children’s visual work, this book highlights the richness and complexity of children’s relational pursuits, including how they both navigate tension and express deep desires for connection in the early years of school.

Drawing from critical childhood studies and informed by children’s right to voice, the book encourages readers to both respect children’s agency and strive to understand their diverse childhood experiences. This story of three boys— each with unique personalities but united by a strong desire to be friends— offers a powerful lens into the multiplexity of social and emotional development. Their challenges and struggles, resolutions and reconnections, challenge traditional ideas and ideals of what healthy social growth can look like, prompting educators to rethink what it means to foster emotional and relational well-being.

Learning from Children in Early Childhood: A Year in the Lives of Young Friends is key reading for educators, researchers, and students interested in children’s social lives, relational worlds, and emotional development. It offers insights for those seeking to create inclusive, responsive environments that center children’s perspectives and experiences.