Introduction PART I: The Individual Child -- Rita Winstone Chapter 1: The emergence of Early Childhood Studies: an historic overview -- Heloise Maconochie Chapter 2: The brain and children’s early development -- Fufy Demissie Chapter 3: Children as thinkers: Philosophy for Children -- Karen Daniels & Roberta Taylor Chapter 4: Children as learners: multimodal perspectives on play and learning --Sarah Rawding Chapter 5: Creativity, curiosity and resilience -- PART II: Children Interacting -- Tanya Richardson Chapter 6: Children as communicators: peers and others -- Caron Carter Chapter 7: Children’s friendships -- Eunice Lumsden Chapter 8: Children within the family context -- Philippa Thompson Chapter 9: 'Supporting’ play -- Part III: Supporting Children -- Penny Borkett Chapter 10: Inclusion and participation -- Pam Dewis Chapter 11: Children's health -- Marie Lavelle Chapter 12: The politics of children's services -- Ginny Boyd Chapter 13: Safeguarding children -- Sigrid Brogaard-Clausen, Sofia Guimaraes, Michelle Cottle & Sally HoweChapter 14: Young children's wellbeing: conceptualising, assessing and supporting wellbeing -- Ester Ehiyazaryan-White Chapter 15: Children, families and English as an additional language - Part IV: The Social Environment -- Alison Glentworth Chapter 16: The educational environment -- Heloise Maconochie & Jill Branch Chapter 17: Working with families and professionals from other agencies -- Monica Edwards Chapter 18: Childhoods in a global context -- Jenny Robson Chapter 19: Contemporary issues -- Damien Fitzgerald Chapter 20: Young Children, Childhood and Gender -- Adam Holden Chapter 21: Technology and early digital culture -- Part V: Your Journey -- Jane Murray Chapter 22: Observing and assessing children -- Amanda Hatton Chapter 23: Researching with children -- Karen Barr Chapter 24: Becoming a professional: entanglements with identity and practice --Caroline Leeson Chapter 25: Learning through placements -- Mary E. Whalley Chapter 26: Leading quality practice.