Mike Huber has been an early childhood teacher since 1992 and currently teaches at Seward Child Care Center in Minneapolis. Mike has also worked as a trainer and consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education, the Child Care Resource and Referral Network, and the Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children (MnAEYC). He is the winner of the 2012 Kate Davidson Tanner Award from MnAEYC, the Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Award Honorable Mention in 2006, and Teacher Leadership from Hamline University's Master of Arts Education Program in 2006. Mike holds a master's degree in education from Hamline University. He is the author of Inclusion Includes Us and Embracing Rough-and-Tumble Play, both from Redleaf Press, as well as several children's books. He is the co-host of the podcast Teaching with the Body in Mind and frequent guest on That Early Childhood Nerd.

Every early childhood educator needs to read The Power in Pretend. This book stands out as one of the most insightful and thorough explorations of pretend play available. Huber has crafted a brilliant and timely resource that clearly outlines pretend play's profound impact on children's growth and development. More than any other book I know, it captures what pretend play offers young learners. Bravo!

--Sally Haughey, Founder and CEO, Wunderled and Fairy Dust Teaching

This is a must-have book for those interested in understanding the complexity of play. Mike Huber shares his personal experience together with research to illuminate our adult responsibilities in curating dynamic spaces for children's agency and sense of community, that truly value children's play--all their play. 

--Suzanne Axelsson, author of The Original Learning Approach and Riskfylld Lek och Undervisning (Risky Play and Teaching)

Mike Huber's new book provides an answer to the ongoing question posed by many early childhood educators, "So what do I do while they're playing?" This! You do this! The Power In Pretend reminds readers of the depth of what happens when children have time to play and when educators take the time to really see. 

--Lisa Murphy, M.Ed., Author, Speaker, Early Childhood Specialist, and CEO & Founder, Ooey Gooey, Inc.

Like many of us who delight in the company of young children, I have a long-standing fascination with and belief in children's pretend play and stories--for what they reveal about each child as an individual; for what they demonstrate about childhood as a particular culture; and for what they show us about what it means to be human. What I particularly like about what Mike Huber does in this book is that, while operating from this familiar disposition of delight and respect, he works so diligently to organize his careful thinking, extensive research and many years of experience into a format that helps the reader to do something he believes that pretend play allows children to do--to take many perspectives. He gives the scientific perspective and the pedagogical perspective; he invites us into the perspective of parents; and he is especially tender and adept as he invokes the perspective of teachers moving along their own developmental paths as they come to trust more deeply in themselves and in the children. But most of all, of course--relentlessly, unapologetically--with humor and generosity--he insists that we never forget the perspective of the children themselves. 

--Donna King, author of Pursing Bad Guys: Joining Children's Quest for Clarity, Community and Courage

Publisher: Redleaf Press

Pub date: 2025-06-24

Length: 152 pages