Rating: 
Summary: Adequate, but not the best
Review: Penelope Leach has written a good book. However, when I looked up diaper rash (for example), I found that I expected more detail. On the flip side, some topics (like toddler biting) have very thorough information. This book has some excellent practical advice on many topics, but I wouldn't have made it through my daughter's first two years without other books. I'm definitely glad I own this book, but it's just not enough by itself.
Rating: 
Summary: A book to be grateful for
Review: This works like a bible. You can leave it on your shelf or by your bed, and pick it up from time to time, open it to somewhere, and find solace and wisdom. No matter where you start reading, you'll find you've read half a chapter before you know it, even when you only meant to look up one specific little thing. This woman writes like a charm.I think it's a bonus if you've heard her speak, because you can hear her speaking what's written here, and her delivery is just wonderful. Quite erudite and thoroughly knowledgeable but not even a molecule of pretense. Reading this book gives you the utmost respect for its author, and makes you want to invite her over for lunch as well. You'll pick it up and read, and then you'll go away from it and go about your busy life. You'll get lost again in diapers or laundry or the ins and outs of your baby's psyche. You'll get worn, or angry. At some point if you remember to dip into the book again, Penelope will remind you where the ground is and where your center is, and you will go be a good parent some more. Penelope Leach is a Ph.D. psychologist -- she knows her child development. Throughout, she discusses WHY we should do X or Y as parents, and she explains the capacities and limitations of children at each age -- and their experiences, as well as can be known. This is a book absolutely grounded in the best of research. It's really an education in child development. There are very few better, clearer, writers than Penelope Leach, either. I imagine there are a lot of parents out there who are at least a little better than they would have been, as parents, for reading this book. If you have the slightest chance, get it and read it. If you are even considering this as a gift to new parents, it'd be a terrific one.
Rating:
Summary: First Baby? Get the book!
Review: There is not a single book that tells you everything a nervous first time parent needs to know. This book however, comes close. I have not read it in a year and a half-- my son is almost 4. For that first year and a half, it was comforting to have. Ms. Leach answers the questions and gives a first time parent confidence in handling a baby or toddler, and as important, the confidence to know that not every child develops at the same speed. Get this book. You will use it and enjoy it. I liked to read ahead to see what my son would be doing in 6 months. Our generation wants a more detailed book than Dr. Spock, whom, you must also buy if you are stocking your bookshelf in preparation for your first child. I don't think you need this book if you kids are older than 3. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Foundation for First Time Parents
Review: This is a very well written book that should be required reading for all first time parents. It not only helps parents understand what they will likely encounter when raising a child, but also why. By helping us understand a child's mind and body, we can become better parents. I've recommended this book to many of my friends and none of them have been disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, sensitive book
Review: A wonderful book, that teaches you to listen to your baby's needs, giving a lot of information about developmental advances in different stages of babyhood and written in a marvelous, emotional language
Rating:
Summary: The bible in our house
Review: Her common sense approach really appeals to us. We're first-time parents and feel that we know how to be good parents if we listen to our baby's cues. Dr. Leach just reinforces this.
Rating:
Summary: beautifully written and very reassuring
Review: Every parent needs to take the time to read this book. The practical advice and reassuring descriptions of child development have made my parenting job easier. The book comes off the shelf with every new phase and each unusual situation. When my newborn was waking up five times a night to nurse, I got better advice from this book than from my pediatrician. And the beautifully-written introductions to the different stages of development gave me a real sense of who my baby was and who my child is. I still cry when I read them.
Rating: 
Summary: Too wordy and hard to read/disorganized!
Review: I have several childcare "bibles" from my first born. I have turned to these countless times for advice and support. I ordered this book to add to my collection when my second child was born. I was hoping to update my information. I was very upset when I opened the cover to see paragraph after paragraph of continous text. It was more like a novel than a reference book. To this day, I haven't read but a chapter or two. It is just sitting on the shelf. So, I can't comment on the contents or information. This is definatly not a book for a mother with little time to sit down and read quietly.
Rating:
Summary: This book has outdated information.
Review: Even though this book has been revised, it still has a great deal of outdated information. I did not read the whole book because I read so many inaccurate things that I became concerned about the content. Example; give your baby pieces of raw carrot or apple long before they are 6 months old. Wrong! Major choking hazzard.
Rating:
Summary: This book is outdated ! Don't waste your time !
Review: The information in this book is from the fifties, dressed in a modern cover. Don't waste your time. There are far better baby books available !
| 
