The popularity and usefulness of Professor Jelliffe's handbook is attested to by the fact that it now appears in its third English edition, having had a Spanish edition and two reprints in the recent past. The intended audience is clearly specified by the booklet's subtitle: “A Practical Handbook for Medical and Para-medical Personnel.” An introductory note re-emphasizes the recommendation that this brief booklet be selectively used “by medical and para-medical personnel and especially by instructors and trainers of these various types of staff.” It is further stressed that physicians and medical students would necessarily have to supplement this abbreviated text with the standard pediatric textbooks.

Under Professor Jelliffe's editorship, there are contributions by six other very well-informed authors, each with extensive knowledge and vast experience in the problems of child health in tropical regions, most particularly in East Africa. The contents are intended to cover the major aspects of clinical, preventive, and social medicine as they relate to children in the Tropics.