Opinion

Penelope Leach on why she has updated her best selling book for parents

The author explains why she couldn’t ‘in good conscience’ leave available a book she knew to be out of date.
'Re-writing the book was not an easy undertaking'.
'Re-writing the book was not an easy undertaking'. - Alex Gregory

Baby & Child, as it was then called, was written in the 70s. Half a century is a very long life for a book and despite several updates during that time, changes in the book had not kept up with changes in society.

By 2020 it was clear that the book must either be rewritten or die and no sign that it would do this spontaneously. There were close to 3 million copies extant and grandparents continued to pass on well-worn copies to their pregnant children.

It therefore seemed that there was a place for a modern book that was as much about child development as childcare and that would save parents from the anxiety engendered by the plethora of childcare advice available online.

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