Christian Nurture (William Bradford Collection from the Pilgrim Press)

As recently as 1981, Boardman W. Kathan, the distinguished historian, called Christian Nurture "one of the most influential books ever to be published in America." Published in this form in 1860, Christian Nurture led all other choices in a poll of Christian educators' listings of which writings they considered indispensable in their field.
A cause of controversy in its day, infuriating the right-wing monthly Christian Observatory and other conservatives, it was a book literally "banned in Boston." Bushnell's heterodoxy consisted of a theory of steady, daily Christian nurture for children and an insistence on the rite of infant baptism. He was accused of, among other things, "jeopardizing the immortal souls of parents as well as children."
After the initial tempest, and time, Christian Nurture has become a classic. It is full of good advice and of a sense of the child as important in God's eyes. It appeals for good family communication, it takes strong stands against child abuse, and, with rare insight into the psychology of infancy, it recognizes a need for early encouragement of a child's spirit, representing an understanding rare in Bushnell's day that childhood is not preparation for life but an integral part of it.