This book offers a lively critique of conventional schooling and outlines progressive, child-centered alternatives developed in experimental schools. The author examines the child, the school building, teachers, textbooks, and the culture that canonizes rote learning, arguing for learning through play, work, artistic expression, drama, curiosity, and the right to be wrong. Chapters consider practical reforms—the Gary plan, vocational learning, and democratic responsibility—and reflect on how education might better align with modern life. The tone is conversational and polemical, combining practical suggestions with philosophical reflections on love, enterprise, and community in education.