Daniel N. Stern, an internationally renowned psychiatrist and professor of psychology, is the author of many acclaimed works, including The Present Moment in Psychotherapy and Everyday Life, and the co-author with his wife Nadia Bruschweiler-Stern of The Birth of a Mother (French translations: Le Moment présent en psychothérapie, 2003, and La Naissance d’une mère, 1998).


The particular form of this book — a diary written from a baby’s point of view — allows the author to tackle questions that are frequently asked about the inner life of infants. What goes on in infants’ minds when they stare at someone’s face, gaze at a ray of sunlight on a wall, or look at the bars of their crib? How do infants experience hunger? Suckling? What do they feel when you play with them face-to-face? How do they experience separation?
The author has been trying to find answers to these questions for more than thirty years. Much of his time during those years has been spent in the company of babies. As a father of five, he has had firsthand experience of infants; as a specialist in child psychiatry, he has been especially concerned with the relations between infants and their parents; as a scientist, he has observed and studied infant development.

A unique undertaking. Diary of a Baby is rightly regarded as one of the most important books to understand infant psychology.

“A fascinating book.” Topo

“One of the best books to approach the psychology of the very young.” Enfant magazine