The Nursery World of Dr. Blatz

Elizabeth Levin is a psychology professor at Laurentian University.

Most baby-boom parents have probably never heard of Blatz. While the
boomers’ parents may have been guided by Spock’s Baby and Child
Care, Blatz no doubt influenced Spock. Blatz was in many ways Canada’s
own Spock, a world-renowned expert on raising children who was very
influential from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s. Blatz was a pioneer in
the study of child development and daycare, having received training in
both medicine and psychology. His life and times are the subject of
Raymond’s text.

Blatz’s childhood is described in Chapter 1, with Chapter 2 exploring
social influences of the time. The next several chapters look at
Blatz’s career, focusing on the establishment of his nursery school
and his work with the Dionne quintuplets. Later chapters examine the
development of Blatz’s security theory and his influence on modern
daycare. Raymond makes clear that Blatz had a profound influence;
however, he drops many names without informing the readers who these
people were.

Those interested in the history of child psychology or daycare in
Canada will find the book interesting reading.