Excerpt from The First Three Years of Childhood Four years ago this book appeared to be a fortunate hit, offering as it did, though on the most simple scale, a study of infant psychology. The character of the work arose naturally from the line of study I had planned. I had, in fact, set myself to follow out in little children the gradual awakening of those faculties which constitute the psychic activity, so abundantly differentiated, so delicate and at the same time so powerful, of the adult human being. It was, no doubt, this intention - possibly a somewhat premature one - of systematizing a class of observations, of which hitherto only rough sketches had been attempted, which gained me the encouragement of philosophers and educationalists both in France and abroad. Thus then, while endeavoring to improve upon the modest beginning which had at first won me their sympathy, I could do no better than keep to my original method. My canvases were already sketched in and accepted: I have merely endeavored to draw them a little better and to fill them in more, to render facts and interpretations of facts clearer and more precise. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.