Author of the Month - May May 01 2026

Douglas Gerwin has edited two fine tomes — one titled, Trailing Clouds of Glory, published in 2015, and another published this year titled In Light of the Spirit. Both are remarkable books. The first collects and polishes the work of several authors to span a topic as demanding as “the changing of relationships of young human beings as they pass through puberty (and what teachers do to help this journey)”.

BookBank Survey Results January 13 2026

It has been a delight to collate and summarize the returns on the BookBank survey sent earlier this year to all AWSNA Member Waldorf Schools. WP is not in the business of surveying its participants, making this undertaking an entry into an unexplored field. Also, WP is in the vanguard of Waldorf education  only in the sense that, as a  support organization designed by  AWSNA delegates in 1987, it produces professionally prepared, reliably authentic materials for Waldorf teachers, schools, and communities. For this survey — a new venture for WP — we thank you in advance for your responses and suggestions.

November- Author of the Month November 01 2025

Roberto Trostli has turned his attention to collecting his years of experience and organizing it into remarkably helpful books for teachers everywhere. After forty years of teaching in the classroom and founding a high school at the Hartsbrook School, with a special penchant for science in the Goethean tradition, we are delighted to help usher Trostli’s insightful knowledge into the world. Roberto is also a dedicated tap dancer, but this is beyond the scope of his “Author of the Month” status!

Music, Music, Music, Music, Music, Music, Music October 19 2025

Singing songs, singing rounds, singing the seasons, singing of all kinds, pentatonic flutes, recorder playing, string instruments, flutes, orchestra, choral singing, percussion instruments, musical plays, and more, and more! From singing through the day in preschool and kindergarten, to mastering the pentatonic flute in grades one and two, to learning the recorder in grade three and starting a stringed instrument, to full form orchestra to, alto, tenor, and bass recorders, and singing for just about everything—music is integral to everything taught in Waldorf schools.

September - Author of the Month September 09 2025

This month The Library Lady has chosen Dorothy Harrer, who taught at the Rudolf Steiner School, New York City (RSSNYC) for decades, including the fifties, sixties, and seventies. She was among the first to begin sharing ideas with other teachers in North America, from stories for each age level to circle games for introducing math concepts to the young.

August - Author of the Month August 22 2025

Arthur Pittis, author of Pedagogical Theater and the Pittis Reader Series, is the Library Lady’s choice for author of the month! Arthur was a long-time class teacher at the Waldorf School of Baltimore, taking two classes all the way through.

Back to School: 10 Gentle Tips for a Waldorf-Inspired Transition August 04 2025

The final weeks of summer offer a precious opportunity to prepare for the new school year with intention and care. In Waldorf education, transitions are honored with rhythm, presence, and a deep respect for the child’s inner world. Rather than rushing back into structure, we can gently guide our children toward the school rhythm with warmth and confidence.

Waldorf Summer Reading June 16 2025

Five Easy Ways to Support the Transport to Wonders through Good Stories for Youngsters (Summer Reading:-)

MAY - Author of the Month May 12 2025

Manfred von Makensen was a creative experimenter in life, dedicated to Waldorf education and, more specifically, the sciences in Waldorf schools.

February is Author Dick Bruin Month at Waldorf Publications! February 06 2025

Dick Bruin has devoted his life to teaching at Waldorf schools in Holland. The national Dutch tradition of blending the artistic with the social is characteristic in all Bruin’s work. His books, Painting at School and Form Drawing are inspiring reminders of how to build strong lifeforces through steady artistic work.

The Science Says It All in Waldorf Education! December 13 2024

Waldorf Publications is proud to announce two new books by author Michael Holdrege. These books cover the life science curriculum in a Waldorf High School. The ninth and tenth grade life science curriculum is described in From Mechanism to Organism, Enlivening the Study of the Human Organism. The eleventh and twelfth grade life science curriculum is explained in Holdrege’s second book, Embryology, Genetics, and Ecology, Windows into the Dynamics Nature of Living Organisms.

Waldorf Learning Support: Books from Audrey McAllen, Joep Eikenboom NOW AVAILABLE! October 22 2024

For decades through the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, in England, Audrey McAllen studied the indications given by Rudolf Steiner about child development, sleep, breathing, children’s drawings, and the circulation of the blood, the system of our nerves, temperaments, and much more. She worked these into specific exercises and specific class exercises to give strength to the therapeutic work made possible by a Waldorf class and classroom.

Deeper Look - Autumn-Nature Activities for Children October 08 2024

"Autumn Nature Activities for Children" is a comprehensive guide filled with creative and engaging nature-based projects designed to connect children with the natural world.

New Release - Parzival: A Forerunner of the Modern Human Being June 25 2024

Parzival
Forerunner of the Modern Human Being

The archetypal legend of the famous, bungling hero, Parzival, holds lessons for all human beings. We start out as ignorant ingenues, without a clue about the great world; stumbling after what we believe we want and wish to be, hurting others, making wrong assumptions, following rules others have laid out instead of finding for ourselves what it is that we are called to do.

Book Review - Verses and Poems and Stories to Tell March 10 2024

Dorothy Harrer's Verses and Poems & Stories to Tell is a charming collection that embodies the spirit of childhood wonder and the rich tradition of storytelling. Through a delightful mixture of verses, poems, and fairy tales, Harrer invites readers into a world where the mundane meets the magical.

The Waldorf Class Play and Reccomended Reading January 11 2024

From grade one through grade twelve, the annual class play is an essential feature of the life of every Waldorf class. The play is often the defining event of the year, the event most clearly remembered and most often referred to, long after much else of what happened is lost to memory.

Book Review: Handbook of Research on Waldorf Education — Jost Schieren, Ed. August 25 2023

Here, at long last, is a book which identifies the scientific underpinnings of Waldorf Education!!

Published by Routledge, the internationally acclaimed academic publisher, this book defines the exclusion of Waldorf Education for 100 years from circles on educational science, missing the opportunities for mutual stimulation and collaboration.

The Pentathlon: Crown Jewel of Grade Five in a Waldorf School! June 19 2023

May is the month of new life, of spring, dancing, and tag sales in upstate New York, Waldorf Publications’s home. In Waldorf Schools around the world, it is the month of the Pentathlon, a poetic re-rendering of an athletic ritual from ancient Greece. It is a rite of passage significant in the lives of eleven-year-olds lucky enough to attend a Waldorf school.

The Poetic Meaning of End of Year Reports in Waldorf Schools May 16 2023

Children, students, everywhere strive for excellence. All children who have not been traumatized by extraordinary experiences or abused by adults one way or another, want to learn, to be smart, to understand this large and confusing world into which they have been born. Some children hide this yearning. If they find out early that those delivering education, in whatever form, have decided they are not excellent, or have not met invisible expectations, they might become seemingly insouciant, uncaring, indifferent to what is happening in a learning environment. Some children crumble and dissolve into confusion, striking out at whatever they can identify that might be “right.”

Just in time for Earth Day! The Green Curriculum in Waldorf Schools April 21 2023

A Twelve Part Series
From Roots to Bloom

A few years ago on AWSNA’s “Green Pages” Sarah Hearn, Waldorf graduate from the New York City Rudolf Steiner School, with help from a class teacher or two, wrote a series of short articles on the many ways in which the curriculum in our schools connects a child to the Earth, awakens a devoted love of Nature and grows environmentalists who carry a passion for caring for the Earth and all its gifts. Sarah has agreed to have these little articles republished as a guest blogger here. She called her series “From Roots to Bloom,” to emphasize the growth in a human being as reflected in the plant kingdom. We are delighted about Sarah’s giving us permission as this overview of the “green curriculum” bears repeating many times. Embedded as it is in all that’s done in Waldorf schools, it’s wonderful to see it teased out for a minute to reveal some of its better parts!

Holi — The Hindu Festival of Colors, India March 08 2023

Water balloons, powders of vibrant colors, feasting, music, dancing; the festival of Holi is celebrated in March in the Hindu calendar during the full moon. It celebrates the coming of spring and the triumph of good over evil.

This festival, dating back to the 4^th century CE, memorializes the story of Vishnu, the god who comes to earth in one of his several incarnations as a human being — this time as Narasimha— and is the celebration of his defeat of the demon twins, Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha.

Imbolc, Groundhog Day, St. Brigid’s Day, Candlemas Day and the Celtic Calendar of Celebrations February 01 2023

By the ancient Celtic calendar, the year was divided into four seasons. The mighty passage of the sun through these periods signaled the change of seasons—as it does for us today. These days and times vary slightly from year-to-year. For 2023 the dates for the Northern Hemisphere are:

Book Review: From Mechanism to Organism: Enlivening the Study of Human Biology August 16 2022

At long last, a resource book for high school teachers, parents, and students that brings to life the experiential approach to the complex subject of human biology!  Michael Holdrege’s decades of experience at the Chicago Waldorf School teaching middle and high school science and math shines on every page of this penetrating book. From Mechanism to Organism contains wonderful illustrations that demonstrate valuable ideas for teachers to use in bringing different aspects of the ninth-and tenth-grade science in a Waldorf curriculum to high school students.

Book Review - Honey Bee Haven January 12 2022

Honey Bee Haven that is a real delight. Teaching ourselves and our children about the precious work done by pollinators, especially bees, has become a topic of some urgency in the last decades. With gloriously colorful pictures, done in watercolor paintings by the author, and the simple telling of how bees live and work, a penetrating story gets told in this little masterpiece of a book. It is about the significance of the work of honey bees, and about our part in making them feel appreciated, cared-for, and loved!