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Thinking about Infants and Young Children

Author(s) : Martha Harris

Reviews and Endorsements

‘Martha Harris’s book Thinking about Infants and Young Children is truly a seminal work. It remains as lively, insightful and relevant as Martha Harris was as a teacher. This is a book that has not dated. It has accompanied me in my professional work, from London to Melbourne, since 1975, as a valuable resource to me as both clinician and teacher of infant observation.’
ANN CEBON, Psychoanalytic psychotherapist (Tavistock), Melbourne, Australia

‘What makes this book so attractive? Is it the way it raises problems without putting the blame on parents? Is it the deep understanding of children? Is it the simplicity of expression with which complicated and important issues are discussed? All these qualities made the book a great source of inspiration for me.’
MIRIAM BOTBOL, author of ‘Bebé, bienvenido al mundo’; founder member of the Psychoanalytic Group of Barcelona, Spain

‘Psychic growth is a very complex process throughout childhood. There is no recipe for rearing a child, no good or bad way per se to treat him. Parents must be able to observe each of their children and think about them individually. In limpid language, Martha Harris gives many wonderful illustrations of this way of “observing and thinking”.’
DIDIER HOUZEL, psychoanalyst, professor of child psychiatry, a founder of the GERPEN mother-baby research group, Caen, France

‘The Italian edition of this book, published in 1972, was immediately a huge success because it was not aimed at offering advice to parents and educators, but rather at a psychological understanding of the child that would improve the ambience and environment in which he was being brought up. Its step by step account of childhood includes aspects that were hardly taken into consideration at that time – such as sexuality, death, and parental divorce or separation. The author’s depth of thought and ease of expression have maintained readers’ interest over the years, as has been confirmed by the editions of 1985, 1999 and 2009.’
ROMANA NEGRI, child psychotherapist and professor of child neuropsychiatry, University of Milan, Italy

‘Thinking about Infants and Young Children has become a classic in Brazil since its publication in Portuguese in 1988. Thanks to this book both specialist and ordinary readers have had the opportunity to become acquainted with basic psychoanalytical concepts relevant to both the emotional development of the infant and to parental functions.’
MARISA PELELLA MELEGA, psychoanalyst, founder of the Mother-Baby Study Centre, Sao Paulo, Brazil

‘It is a pleasure to have a new edition of this lovely book, which encompasses so many core aspects of the life of the baby, his parents and siblings. Mrs Harris describes with clarity the development of these first relationships. I have for years recommended this book to baby observation teachers and professionals interested in the emotional development of the infant and work with parents. It is written in such a captivating and lively way that many parents also have found it very useful in thinking about their infants.’
MARJA SCHULMAN, child psychotherapist (Tavistock), Helsinki, Finland