Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities and the author of numerous books, including his series Children of Crisis, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize.
I first read Robert Coles when I was a child development specialist in a home visitation HIV/drug treatment program in the inner city. Coming from a stable home in suburbia, I needed to understand more about families, specifically children, in crisis because I was caught in the middle of a war zone. What I learned from his teachings were about children’s struggles and survival in our society all of which is relevant to child development today.
One day, I drove 4 hours to go to a conference where he was speaking. And if there is one person that I am glad I have met in my life, its him.
Now, you can listen to his stories as well. This is a video from a talk he gave at Harvard, called “Children Consider Human Conflict.”
Dr. Coles body of work is extensive. Here are some of his books that I recommend.
The Call of Stories.
The Spirituality of Children.
The Moral Intelligence of Children.
The Story of Ruby Bridges. (Children’s book he wrote, based on his work with Ruby Bridges)