Closer to the Light: Learning from Near Death Experiences of Children

by Melvin Morse and Paul Perry

Book Overview

The skeptics have had their say; now listen to the experts. In hundreds of interviews with children who had once been declared clinically dead, Dr. Morse found that children too young to have absorbed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394579445
• ISBN13: 9780394579443
• Release Date: August 1990
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

FROM A CHILDS POINT OF VIEW

I love reading about hauntings and near death experiences but this book was well researched and easy to understand telling about near death experiences from a child's point of view rather than the adult's point. I really liked reading about some of them and some of them really touched and moved me. I liked this book.

A blessing for those facing death.

I found this book very convincing in a way no other book has been for me. It comforted all the members of my family immensely after the death of my 11 year old grandson, Jonnie, of leukemia. We also used it before Jonnie died to prepare him for his own possible death. Jonnie was not afraid to die and this book is part of the reason. I am grateful to Dr. Morse for giving us this wonderful tool. Jonnie is still our hero. He started two charities to benefit kids with cancer, the first at age 8, the second at age 10. He won the Kids With Courage Award 2002 and the 2002 Local Hero Award. http://www.jonniescharity.com

Fascinating, Comforting, Believable

I read this book right after my father died, and found it immensely comforting. The Near Death Experience (or NDE) has been recorded in many peoples, cultures and times, and is a human phenomenon that cannot be denied. It exists. But what does it mean?Dr. Morse's research of the NDE in children was especially interesting, as children are guileless and have no axes to grind. Indeed, many of the children experienced places and beings in their NDE that did not coincide with the religious beliefs they had been taught.Unfortunately, the subject makes some in the scientific community uncomfortable, and so we may not see additional or followup studies anytime soon.This book was fascinating in a scientific way, and I couldn't help but feel that I was getting a bonafide peek at the world that follows this one. I highly recommend it, especially to anyone who has experienced a recent bereavement.

Thought-Provoking

This is undoubtedly one of the most impressive studies about NDE's available. What makes this book so interesting is the amount of detail that the children have reported about their NDE's as well as certain items that would seem very peculiar if it were just a defensive reaction of the mind to something too terrible to contemplate. For one thing, most children mentioned that in their NDE, they were NOT children, but fully grown people. This is an extremely odd phenomena -- it would seem that if this were some sort of generated phantasy that the children would be seeing themselves as they are, but without being ill, but this is not the case at all. This forms one of the most convincing aspect about the experiences. And while an adult may be able to "guess" what may happen in surgery, it is unlikely that a child would be able to do so, thus giving more credence to the notion of the out-of-body-experience. A fascinating book.

As a prior poster said, a very comforting book.

Not to repeat what several others have mentioned here in these well written reviews, but this is a wonderful book.The most notable element I see in this book is that children do not pass ALONE. There is always a loving presence - someone that goes with the child - and takes away their fears and eases the transition. There was one story about a young girl (age 7) who tried to kill herself. She'd been the victim of horrible child abuse and chose suicide as the only way out. She left her body and found herself surrounded by "a bubble of love and life". She was shown a tree - encased in ice and snow - and told she was in the winter of her life now, but that summer was coming and much joy was ahead of her in life. She was 47 when interviewed for this book and her adult life had been one of stability, joy and much peace.The other good reason to buy this book is because on page 147 is "the rest of the story" about the 1986 bombing of the elementary school in Cokeville, Wyoming.Many of the children who were there when the bomb went off (they'd all been stuffed into one classroom by David Young, the bomber) told of angelic beings that gave them very specific instructions as to where to go to be safe.Not one or two, but many children talked about the angels, or "nice ladies who were all lit up" and voices - all giving them clear direction.And by the way, only David Young died when that bomb went off. This is a well written, informative, enlightening and good-news book.