Vivian Gussin Paley, a former kindergarten teacher, is the winner of a MacArthur Award and of the 1998 American Book Award for Lifetime Achievement given by the Before Columbus Foundation.
Vivian Gussin Paley's book You Can't Say You Can't Play is arresting in its title, magical in its appeal, and inspiring in its message...[It] illustrates how the teacher's art can attack the evil of exclusion at its childhood root. Now, Mrs. Paley, we need your help in weeding out the pernicious practices that afflict the adults of our exclusionary society.--Derrick Bell New York Times Book Review