A central theme of this book is the gradual process of separation between parents and toddlers and the growth of autonomy in them all. The author has written with clarity, sympathy and warmth about the multiple problems children face in their toddler years and she has addressed the parents with immense empathy. The author manages to convey complex concepts and arguments in a lucid and simple style that all readers will find most helpful. Each of the authors featured has published papers and books for the academic and clinical communities; the present volumes, however, are specifically aimed at parents. The intent is not to convince but to inform the reader. Rather than offering solutions, we are describing, explaining and discussing the problems that parents meet while bringing up their children, from infancy through to adulthood. We try to provide portraits of the various stages in the child's cognitive, intellectual, and emotional development and how these unfolding stages affect not only the child's experience of himself, but also how he perceives and relates to the world in which he lives.
