Childhood: The First Six Years is another of many books written to help parents understand the physical and developmental changes that occur during this period. The author, a French pediatrician, has divided the book into three main sections. The first section describes normal development. For each age, topics, such as feeding, behavior, communication, elimination, and bathing, are discussed. The second section deals with potential problems, including sleeping difficulties, toilet training, and stealing. The third section is devoted to childhood illnesses. Illustrations of children at different ages add to the book's attractiveness.
Major flaws make this book unacceptable to American parents. Cohen, the author, was the coauthor of a previous book, Your Baby, which describes birth and the neonatal period. He has assumed that parents already have a copy of Your Baby, because the present book starts with the second month of life rather than with birth. Descriptions of child development