I agree that childhood can and should be a formative and somewhat magical time. I had a very happy childhood. (I sometimes say, only partly joking, that I was a victim of a happy childhood.) And I worry that a lot of kids are forced or led to grow up too fast in these days of information overload.

Have you read the poem "Fern Hill" by Dylan Thomas? It's a perfect evocation of happy childhood and its loss.

Thank you for your writing.