In their first three years of life, babies face the most complex learning endeavor they will ever undertake as human beings: They learn to talk. Now, as researchers make new forays into the mystery of the development of the human brain, Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek, both developmental psychologists and language experts, offer parents a powerfully insightful guidebook to how infants—even while in the womb—begin to learn language. Along the way, the authors provide parents with the latest scientific findings, developmental milestones, and important advice on how to create the most effective learning environments for their children. This book takes readers on a fascinating, vitally important exploration of the dance between nature and nurture, and explains how parents can help their children learn more successfully.

How Babies Talk explores how babies learn language, and the ways in which parents and caregivers can nurture these linguistic skills at every stage of their children's development.

Organized chronologically, beginning with the unborn child, who can actually tell the difference between similar sounds, this comprehensive book shows how babies learn to recognize words, decipher their meanings, put together sentences, and ask questions. Each chapter contains a section, called "Language Milestones", that explores the amazing things babies know at each age, as well as their hidden capabilities and what parents can do to develop them. "Scientific Sleuthing Pays Off" describes how parents can use the latest scientific findings to enhance everyday interactions and provide the most effective learning environments for their children. This section also helps parents identify the problems that may hinder language development. "Try This" details fun and easy at-home experiments that enable parents to chart their children's progress themselves.

From the evolution of infant speech sounds to the toddler's mastery of complex grammar, How Babies Talk is an important guide that will help parents help their children develop the wonderful gift of language.

“This is a great book. It’s an important addition to any parent’s library.”—T. Berry Brazelton

“An in-depth study of language development during the first three years of life… The text is interspersed with activities readers can use to assess the specific development of their own children... useful and interesting to anyone involved with young children.”—Library Journal

“Crisp, clear, concise, often humorous. The contents are unusually substantive for a handbook targeted to parents, as the bibliography of scientific citations confirms. Important scientific results and their applications to daily life are highlighted as lessons under the heading ‘Scientific Sleuthing Pays Off’ and modified for use at home as ‘Try This’ exercises. A key resource for parenting collections.”—Booklist