‘The child is father of the man,” wrote Wordsworth, capturing the ancient idea that the early years of life shape the later ones. There’s a corollary in the notion that adults can understand ...

In her review of “Tudor Children” by Nicholas Orme (Bookshelf, April 27), Meghan Cox Gurdon says, “They threw knives in a game charmingly called ‘mumble-the-peg,’” perhaps suggesting this Tudor-era ...