Robert Coles, one of America's leading authorities on young people, explores in this book a question crucial for many people today: How can you raise a child to be a good person whose moral character and strong values will steer and sustain him through life?

This book distinguishes how moral intelligence is different from - but as important to success as - other kinds of human development, as significant as emotional or psychological growth, as IQ or intellectual development. Coles shows how children can be taught to become "smart" in this inner spiritual realm - to learn empathy, respect for themselves and others, and how to live the Golden Rule - through witnessing the conduct and caring of others and through moral conversations.

Coles then embarks on an exploration of how values are born and shaped moment by moment, over what he calls "the moral archaeology of childhood." In infancy, Coles explains, there is a moral life that precedes language, and he considers the character of an infant, discussing such topics as Anna Freud's Yes and No, "the spoiled child," and how to stop a baby from becoming a bully.

The elementary school years are the Age of Conscience, when a child's character is built and consolidated - or fails to be - and Coles explores such problems as the schoolgirl caught cheating and the smart boy who distracts others so as to detract from their success. Combining anecdotes with instruction, Coles goes on to discuss what to do during the teenage years - how to cope with alcohol, drugs, sex, and other moral dilemmas.