The author documents the capacity for creative intelligence that is built into human genes. Children can be -- almost never are -- raised to be capable of learning everything.

I wasn't that impressed with this book. While the author does have some very interesting ideas on child development, this book in an exercise in intellectual theory, not concrete action plans on how to raise children. There is no citation provided, but there is an extensive Notes section where Pierce elaborates on some points. While I agree with a lot of the author's particular views on the stages of child development, I ultimately found it just another take on Piaget's classic study of child development I read in college. This book is just a little hopelessly dated for my tastes. Pierce's writing style is phrased in an idealistic (kind of an ambiguous, hippie-dipppie) framework I just couldn't relate to.
The author's more recent publications dealing mostly with spirituality are much more interesting, relevant and pragmatic for me than this book.

Uses brain science of the time to describe developmental foundations of behavior that start in childhood and continue to operate in everyday behavior throughout life. He proposes five cycles of maturation, each of which needs to be completed in order to move successfully to the next, invoking Maslow's hierarchy of needs, arriving eventually at the fully functional and creative being. ( )

This should be required reading for parenthood. It played a major role in how I raise my kids, in my decision to homeschool, and how I relate to kids in general. Some of the ideas are pretty radical to the western world- though they are becoming less and less so. ( )

"Magical Child, a classic work, profoundly questioned the current thinking on childbirth practices, parenting, and educating our chilrdren. Now its daring ideas about how Western society is damaging our children, and how we can better nurture them and ourselves, ring truer than ever. From the very instant of birth, says Joseph Chilton Pearce, the human child has only one concern: to learn all that there is to learn about the world. This planet is the child's playground, and nothing should interfere with a child's play. Raised this way, the Magical Child is a happy genius, capable of anything, equipped to fulfill his amazing potential.
Expanding on the ideas of internationally acclaimed child psychologist Jean Piaget, Pearce traces the growth of the mind-brain from birth to adulthood. He connects the alarming rise in autism, hyperkinetic behaviour, childhood schizophrenia, and adolescent suicide to the all too common errors we make in raising and educating our children. Then he shows how we can restore the astonishing wealth of creative intelligence that is the birthright of every human being. Pearce challenges all our notions about child rearing, and in the process challenges us to re-examine ourselves. Pearce's message is simple: it is never too late to play, for we are all Magical Children."