The market for specialist texts is already adequately covered by Barratt's Pediatric Nephrology (4th edn, Lippincott, 2000, 145) and our own Kher, Clinical Pediatric Nephrology (2nd edn, forthcoming, 2006). What is needed is a text to take the findings of specialists to a much wider audience in training and in paramedical professions - potentially even to parents of affected children. This international text is based on a new initiative of the US National Kidney Foundation to de-mystify and publicize this extremely important topic.