Description
Book SynopsisWally's Stories is Vivian Paley's lively account of her kindergarten classroom, where children are encouraged to learn by using their fantasies and stories. The book describes the evolution of both teacher and students as they grow to understand each other through this unusual teaching method.
Trade ReviewIn a book exceptionally modest in manner and unusually substantial in matter, Mrs. Paley has given a vivid and credible picture of how five-year-olds think. An entertaining picture, too, and a strangely inspiriting one. -- D. J. Enright * Times Literary Supplement *
This remarkable book is delightful to read and rewarding to ponder. It is the kind of book a teacher quotes to friends, shares with colleagues, and uses as a source of working ideas and inspiration. -- Alice Seletsky * Elementary School Journal *
[These] are the reflections of an expert, sensitive, experienced ‘kid-watcher,’ who believes that the children’s magical thinking provides a legitimate framework within which more adult-like thinking can develop…
Wally’s Stories does not simply ‘instruct’; it also unfailingly delights. -- Judith Lindfors * Language Arts *
Paley’s anecdotal record of a kindergarten class is a reflective examination of how five-year-olds think and of how one child’s well-developed imagination can catalyze a class… She has fresh insights to offer from this particular arena as she reminds us that magic gives children power in a world where adults seem to have the answers. A trenchant informal analysis. * Kirkus Reviews *
