"It was time for such a text to be published," writes Jerome Kagan of Harvard University in his foreword to A Good Start in Life, "and Elinore and Norbert Herschkowitz have performed this service for the parents of millions of infants who will be born this year." One of the world's leading pediatric neuroscientist-clinicians, Dr. Norbert Herschkowitz of Switzerland and his American-born wife, the educator-writer Elinore Chapman Herschkowitz, M.A., distill a lifetime studying infants and children into an enchanting exploration of how brain development shapes your child's personality and behavior. With boundless warmth for parents, delight in children, and scrupulous respect for science, these remarkable authors weave psychological and biological knowledge into a seamless tapestry. A Good Start in Life covers the child from birth to age six; each chapter ends with a Q & A touching on new ideas that parents bring up during Dr. Herschkowitz's public lectures. Charts showing milestones for children's development of various abilities are also included. Most special about this book is the extensive attention the authors give, at every stage, to how children learn to live together in family and society. They tell parents how important it is to communicate to a child that he or she is a family member, part of a team with both privileges and responsibilities. "When children believe they are contributors," the Herschkowitzes say, "they are less needy for repeated reminders that they are loved or for material signs to persuade them of their value." An inspiring look at babies and brain science, A Good Start in Life cannot fail to both deepen parents' affection for their children and raise the optimism they bring to their unique life assignment.