Having worked successfully in the early years, and delivered a great number of training courses to early years practitioners, Terry Gould recognised that for many working with young children, the last 10 years have been, and continue to be, a time of change, uncertainty, and sometimes confusion. In listening to these practitioners requesting ‘just one book' that they could use to help them with the key aspects of their role he devised this book in the hope that it would go someway to providing much needed support for many.

It is based on his own and colleagues experiences as practitioners working in schools and children's centres and as advisory teachers/consultants, working with a variety of settings including schools, private day nurseries and children's centres.