Your Baby and Child

In her authoritative and practical style, Leach responds fully to parents’ every concern about the psychological, emotional, and physical well-being of their children. She describes, in easy-to-follow stages from birth through starting school, how children develop: what they are doing, experiencing, and feeling. And she tackles both the questions parents often ask—What does a new baby’s wakefulness or a toddler’s tantrum mean?—and those that are more difficult: How should new parents time their return to work, choose day care, tell a child about a new baby or an impending divorce?

Whatever the concern or question, Your Baby and Child supplies the information, encouragement, and reassurance every parent-to-be or new parent needs.

"...called one of the best parenting books by Newsweek magazine! Leach, a respected authority in the child development field, explains what happens during the stages of development and how to prevent and control problems."

This is the new, fully updated version of the authoritative childcare classic. New features include sections of parents' most-asked questions and Dr. Leach's answers, as well as all new safety information.

Library Journal

This updated version of the child-rearing standard by renowned British psychologist Leach is touted by the publisher as the "essential guide fully revised for today's family." Although the five chapter subdivisions based on the child's age remain the same, and some of the opening essays on each age are lifted almost verbatim from the 1989 edition (Knopf), critical updates in some areas of concern, such as SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), make this an essential purchase. In addition to physical growth and progress, Leach addresses the psychosocial needs of children. She also includes parent concerns and responses similar to those found in Workman's "What To Expect" series. Public and academic libraries would do well to stock the new version of this primer on children and their development for circulation as well as for the reference shelf.Lisa Williams, Moline Southeast Lib., Ill.

Penelope Leach, educated at Cambridge University and at the London School of Economics, is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a founding member of the U.K. branch of the World Association for Infant Mental Health. She works on both sides of the Atlantic for organizations concerned with prenatal care and birth, family-friendly working practices, child care, and early-years education. She lives in Lewes, England.