Winnicott On The Child

by D.W. Winnicott

This delightful book presents a selection of D. W. Winnicott's best writing about children. The remarkable, enduring essays from Babies and Their Mothers and Talking to Parents are here combined with several hard-to-find gems of insight into the world of the child. Each piece was written for a wide audience of parents, childcare professionals, and teachers. In his empathic and witty way, Winnicott ranges over such timeless topics as the mother/infant relationship, trust, instilling a sense of security, negativism, jealousy and moral development. Now, in one volume, anyone who cares about children can enjoy the wisdom of a man many consider to be the most important psychoanalyst since Freud.A Merloyd Lawrence Book

Genres: Psychology, Parenting, Nonfiction

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2002

About the author

Donald Woods Winnicott was an English pediatrician, psychiatrist, sociologist and psychoanalyst.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some ideas have aged better than others but what draws me to Winnicott is his genuine warmth and curiosity about people in all phases of life, what goes right, what goes wrong, and how to try and fix what did go wrong. A collection of writings rather than an organized book, but each chapter would have me reflecting on it and sitting with it for a while later.

He touches on gender diversity and dysphoria in a small but lovely way that seemed very ahead of his time and which im surprised is not remarked on more often!

[Sonya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very outdated.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not especially evidenced based, which would typically bother me more than it does here. Winnicott probably makes some a few dubious claims in the book but his overall philosophy of that which is natural is good is an unsupported worldview of childhood and printing that I can get behind. He might not have hard evidence but his care for craft, meanderingly pleasant style, and seemingly logical explanations are enough. Impressive that much of this advice is over 60 years old.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Winnicott is so great. I first read him in school and now I just read him because he has such an inviting, conversational style. This book is a collection of essays connected with a series on parenting he did on the BBC. Even though he's a psychoanalyst, this book reads like a talk with that wise old uncle you wish you'd had.

[Wilder · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Dad gave me this book. It's slow going, so many other people quote him but I really can't get into it.

[Pixietweet Clip · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Winnicott but more in summary. I find the tone just so dated.