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 Babies and Young Children in Care: Life Pathways, Decision-making and Practice 
 Harriet Ward, Emily R Munro and Chris Dearden, Jessica Kingsley Publishers
 ISBN: 1843102722,
 £39.99 (hbk)

 STAR RATING: 4/5

An excellent combination of solid academic study - detailing a longitudinal study of 42 children from before their first birthday to when they were five or six years old - and a very readable, anecdotal analysis of practice issues, writes Daniel McKeever.

There are plenty of acknowledgements of the reality of child welfare decisions: the conflicting claims of legal process, parental involvement and the rapidly unfolding life of a young child.

What is interesting about their approach is their determination to lay out for the reader all the factors which may result in drift and delay in a baby's early life.

Their emphasis on twin tracking sounds a very hopeful way forward for all who want to find a way for very young children to achieve permanence with all the potential positive outcomes that permits.

Daniel McKeever is child care team manager, Dumfries and Galloway Council