In this wide-ranging study, B. seeks to understand Athenian conceptions of childhood and its various phases, and the social roles played both by children themselves and by others (e.g. adult men and women, slaves) in relation to children through analysis of iconographical sources (primarily figured pottery, but also funerary reliefs and other media). B. situates herself firmly within the subfield of ‘history of childhood’, which understands childhood as ‘a culturally constructed category determined by its geographical and temporal locus: that is, [it claims] that the concept and experience of childhood differs according to where and when in human history it was (and is) located’ (p. 7).

The scope of the volume, as B. describes in two short introductory chapters, covers Athenian children to the age of puberty (a projected second volume will treat adolescence). These chapters also provide an iconographical field guide for identifying children in the images (and distinguishing them from other groups sometimes presented similarly, such as slaves), and identifying the stage of childhood in which an individual is depicted. B.'s method uses a combination of indicators such as physique, hair, dress and gestures, which she rightly argues will be more reliable than using a single indicator alone. B. is consistently interested in what iconography can tell us about the real-world experience and social concerns of Athenian children and those around them.

The core of the volume is contained in Chapters 3 and 4, which follow the life cycle of the Athenian child from birth to puberty. B. proposes an interdisciplinary study that draws on the full range of literary, archaeological, documentary and iconographical evidence. However, as the subtitle suggests, her real goal is to provide a reading of Athenian iconography that is sensitive to the limitations of the iconographical approach. To achieve this, she seeks to ‘supplement and balance’ (p. 11) her conclusions by using other evidence where possible. An example will best show the success of this model. B.'s analysis of the krateriskoi excavated at Brauron (pp. 174–86) identifies some of the girls depicted there as parthenoi (that is, girls of marriageable age, perhaps 12–14 years old). Literary sources, however, suggest that the girls participating in the ritual were younger, perhaps aged 5–10. To reconcile this discrepancy, B. analyses the goals of the artists who produced the images, together with the ritual context of the Arkteia festival, and concludes that these images of parthenoi were not intended as a quasi-photographic documentary record of an actual ceremony. Rather, the artists have depicted the desired end-point of the ritual, when the young girls have propitiated Artemis and are ready to become parthenoi and eventually wives. At its best, B.'s methodology for iconographical analysis is highly successful and should serve as a model for future work.

B. also touches on a wide variety of topics of interest to social historians of every stripe. For example, scholars of gender will be interested in B.'s analysis of children as ‘social beings whose gender is yet fluid and forming’ (p. 202), as well as the role of the adult male as a father. Other topics addressed include children's roles in religious rituals, the social impact of the Peloponnesian War and class distinctions (to name a few). This great breadth is also one of the book's major weaknesses: with the exception of children's rituals, few of these topics are discussed in any depth. The complex relationship between education and democratic ideology, for instance, is treated in barely more than a single page (pp. 145–6). Similarly, B. professes interest in the diversity of experience among various social classes (especially elites and non-elites) within ancient Athens, as well as diachronic changes in these social roles and associated iconography, but discusses both topics only occasionally.

Nevertheless, B.'s argument is cogently explained and well-illustrated with examples. Moreover, the work is documented in meticulous detail, with over 120 images and 62 pages of footnotes that will serve as an essential resource. Unfortunately, the quality of the images varies widely: many are too small to be useful, while in others the relevant portion of the image is obscured. With these few caveats, B.'s monograph represents a successful step forward in combining iconographical analysis and social history.