Unknown Twenty years is a long time to wait between editions of a book but in this case the wait has been worth it. Both authors will be well known to readers of this journal and not surprisingly have produced a book that is a pleasure to read and substantially different from the first edition. There are two sections to the book. The first contains sixteen chapters dealing with investigations such as microbiology, haematology and so on. The second section consists of problem based chapters such as abnormal head size, the wobbly eyed baby and so on. The consistent theme running through the book is that the child with a neurological problem is better served by seeing a thoughtful, well educated doctor than by undergoing a battery of unselected tests. This is an approach which is widely attempted in the UK and Ireland but not always with the wisdom that Mary King and John Stephenson bring to the discipline. The authors emphasise that this is not a cookbook and as always thought, perception and clinical acumen are needed before deciding what should be looked for. Many of the pages of the book contain clinical nuggets but the chapter on rare treatable disorders is particularly comprehensive. Any doctor with an interest in neurological disorders in childhood should buy this book. Judging by the way copies were flying off the bookstand at the EPNS meeting in Harrogate many of my colleagues agree. Rather than wait to receive my review copy I bought this book myself and no reviewer can say fairer than that. My old edition of this book cost £25 and the current edition is very reasonably priced at £39.95/€48.00. Let's hope we don't have to wait another twenty years for the third edition.