Bertha Von Marenholtz-Bulow. How Kindergarten Came to America: Friedrich Froebel's Radical Vision of Early Childhood Education. New York, New Press, 2007.

Originally published as Reminiscences of Friedrich Froebel, this enchanting 1894 account of the German inventor of kindergartens was instrumental in bringing kindergartens to the United States. This lively portrait of a pioneer of modern education is a refreshing reminder of the essential role of play and creative exploration in the development of children. Froebel's methods provide a much-needed antidote to the current emphasis on high-stakes testing and accelerated curricula—a corruption, as Herbert Kohl argues in his foreword, of the original concept of kindergartens as children's gardens of learning.