Benjamin McLane Spock was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist. His book Baby and Child Care (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the 20th century, selling 500,000 copies in the six months after its initial publication and 50 million by the time of Spock's death in 1998. The book's premise told mothers, "You know more than you think you do." Spock's parenting advice and recommendations revolutionized the upbringing of children in the U.S., and he is considered one of the most famous and influential Americans of the 20th century.

The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care is a book by American pediatrician Benjamin Spock and one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies in the six months after its initial publication in 1946 and 50 million by the time of Spock's death in 1998. As of 2011, the book had been translated into 39 languages.