Edited by Julien Cohen-Solal and Bernard Golse, this collection of articles, written by some of the world's greatest specialists in child and infant care, provides a clear and accessible overview of the most recent research on early childhood development up to the age of three. The writers examine the inherent potential of infants and young children and how they interact with their family and environment. They address such questions as: early childhood bonding, the role played by outside stimuli and other forms of interaction, the workings of the unconscious, the impact of affectivity on intelligence, the appearance of thought, the development of speech, the growth of the consciousness of self, sexuality, and the child's relations with its mother, father, and siblings.. The goal is to further the reader's understanding of child development, its various stages, its mechanisms, and its problems. This book will be a useful tool both for parents who wish to understand their child's development and for childcare professionals who wish to keep up with recent research.

Contributors include: Jacques Bergès, Colette Chiland, Julien Cohen-Solal, Bertrand Cramer, Boris Cyrulnik, François Daffos, Philippe Evrard, Yvon Gauthier, Bernard Golse, Gilbert Haag, Phillipe Jeammet, Marc Jeannerod, Jean-François Mattéi, Sophie de Mijolla, Marcel Rufo, Michel Soulé, Daniel Stern, Jean-Pierre Visier, and Daniel Widlöcher.

Julien Cohen-Solal is the co-author, with René Frydman, of My Pregnancy, My Child.

Bernard Golse heads the child-psychiatry service at the Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul, in Paris, and teaches psychiatry at the University of Paris-V.