The Baby in the Mirror: A Child's World from Birth to Three by Charles Fernyhough


The Baby in the Mirror: A Child's World from Birth to Three
Title : The Baby in the Mirror: A Child's World from Birth to Three
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1847080073
ISBN-10 : 9781847080073
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 288
Publication : First published October 1, 2008

For Charles Fernyhough, the birth of his daughter Athena was an opportunity to view the psychological development and growth of a child first hand. Integrating scientific research with careful observation and questioning, this unique study investigates what it is like to be a newborn baby, an infant on the threshold of language, and a toddler testing out autonomy. Using Athena as a case study, Fernyhough vividly describes the huge amount of mental work children undertake right from birth, including the newborn’s task of learning about objects and people; the toddler’s forging of a self; the development of a sense of time and space; and the process of coming to grasp with the transforming power of the imagination. En route, he explains in simple terminology the ideas of the great child psychologists—including Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bowlby—and introduces some of the latest neuroscientific and developmental research. Written with a father’s tenderness and a keen scientific eye, this funny, touching, and fascinating investigation will allow parents and all those interested by child development to understand the extraordinary journey a child makes during the first three years of life.

The Baby in the Mirror: A Child's World from Birth to Three Reviews

  • Vik

    Interesting book about the psychological development of children from 0-3 years old.

    Only 3 stars as whilst it was a good read it gave most of the information as a narrative which means you have to extract it from the text and my expectations were different. If you want to use this book to as a comparison against your own child then it would be difficult.

    However, as a read about how the author's daughter developed with some background into some of the recognisable developmental stages then this book is good. It's also a nice introduction to the theories of Piaget, Donaldson and the interesting Vygotsky amongst others. There's a comprehensive bibliography at the end and suggested further reading is highlighted in bold.


  • Amal Jamal

    I was browsing through the books on sale at Waterstones Mcr Arndale when I saw this one with a £3 tag. So I thought to myself “Hmm why not?” after reading the synopsis at the back of this book. Plus, psychology-related writings always have a way at tempting my book-hoarding instinct.

    This book reminds me of Oliver Sacks too (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat) bcs it integrates scientific facts with real experience that the writer underwent. It tempts me most simply bcs it’s based on real stories.

    I truly adore the writer’s admiration about his daughter’s antics as a small child (hence the title). I praise his dedication to complete this book based on his personal observations & reflections about the little scientist, Athena.

    P/s I wish I can do this with my children too hewhew

  • Violet-Finn

    Fascinating and beautiful

  • Chantal

    Eigenlijk alleen geschikt voor mensen die én veel van psychologie weten én van filosofie houden én zelf een kind hebben. Persoonlijk vond ik de gedeeltes over zijn eigen kind wat klef, het ging mij meer om de psychologische feiten en die waren in sommige gedeeltes ver te zoeken. De toevoeging van filosofie aan de (neuro)psychologische achtergrond was dan wel weer verfrissend en nodigde uit tot meer nadenken.

  • Zbyszek Sokolowski

    This book left mixed feelings. On the one hand I obtained a lot of knowledge about psychology of young child, and psychologist which focus of study were kids. Sometimes it was nice to read as author is father of daughter like me. And I had the same effect like previous reviewers here on GoodReads. It made me tired at some point, so I resumed a book after 1 month break and then finished it. All in all it is interesting book.

  • Alison

    Brilliant