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Valuing Informal Care: What Mothers of Young Children Want
Belinda Brown and Geoff Dench
Published by The Hera Trust
£9.50, ISBN: 095235294X

STAR RATING: 3/5

This book is aimed at people working within local authorities charged with building child care services. It is an academic report but is easy to read, writes Michelle Peel.

One of the book’s main strengths is the inclusion of quotes from interviewees, which I found refreshing compared with other textbooks that tend to present evidence in the form of the researchers’ opinions. Charts are used and these are displayed and explained clearly.

My main criticism of the book is that the research is very specific to a particular ward in Camden. I felt it might have been useful to include a brief background of Kilburn’s composition to make comparisons with other places around the country easier.

The conclusion of the book is excellent and poses further questions for the reader. It brings together the results of the research in the context of the government agenda, and addresses clearly the work of Sure Start.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the government’s child care agenda.

Michelle Peel is a children’s information services officer in Trafford