'The best book I've read this year... I couldn't put it down' Dr Suzi Gage, Book Shambles podcast

'Lucy Maddox is the ideal guide to all that we know about how children's minds develop' Claudia Hammond, author and presenter, All in the Mind

Have you ever wondered how your early life shaped you? From beginning to say simple words and learning how to walk around unaided, to the first day of school and forming new friendships, everyone has been a child. The roots of our adult selves go right back to our first experiences. How we think, act and interact is influenced by our early years.

Weaving together cutting edge research, everyday experience and clinical examples, Dr Lucy Maddox explains how we develop from an unconscious bundle of cells floating about in the dark of the womb to a fully grown complex adult, revealing fascinating insights about our personality, relationships and daily lives along the way.

DR LUCY MADDOX is a consultant clinical psychologist and writer. After 13 years' experience in the NHS she now works in a mix of third sector roles. She works with children, teenagers and adults in Bristol and as senior clinical advisor for the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies. Lucy has written for various publications including the Guardian, Science, Prospect and The Times, and is the author of children's book What Is Mental Health? Where Does it Come From? And Other Big Questions.