The authors draw on their extensive early years expertise to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the key issues in the field of early childhood care and education.In this timely and accessible text, students will find: an overview of the principles of effective practice; discussions on equal opportunities and children's rights; an examination of how children learn and the learning difficulties they may face; investigations into what working with parents really means; consideration of the different early years systems in operation; summaries of key management issues and useful information on how to address them; comparison with European perspectives on early years care and education. The book covers the whole age range from birth to eight years with a special section on the birth to three years age group. Each chapter is fully referenced to enable the reader to follow up on research or new materials. Informative and engaging, the book challenges the reader to think about how underlying theory may be reflected in practice. It will be essential reading for all students of early years care and education, and early years practitioners.