This book was very fun and interesting, even for someone like me who plans to never, ever have a child. ( )

Really interesting look at parenting norms throughout the world. Mostly proving that the "right" way to raise and care for children is a social construct based upon your culture. ( )

On the one hand, this is engagingly written, so much so that I enjoyed it even though I have no contact with little ones. ?áAnd it does give a lot of cross-cultural examples, but no actual advice. ?áAnd, so much so that I will look for more by the author. ?áOtoh, the primary message a parent should get out of it is, do what's right for you and your child, cuz you'll almost surely be able to point to some culture that does it your way, despite what your family's culture says... and that's awfully vague & unsatisfying, I think.

I think the problem with books like this (and the bibliography does list others) is that they neglect a certain factor that weighs heavily in many families. ?áDon't we have to take into account the fact that we want our children to be happy, healthy, and successful in the culture they're growing up in? ?áAnd isn't there possibly a reason that the examples contrary to Urban Western First World are often from very small groups of people who are still primarily focused on daily survival? ?áMaybe the Aka Pygmies are the best fathers in the world, but what would happen to kids raised in NYC or London if they were actually raised that way? ?áWould they be successful and happy, or would they be always out-of-step with their peers and be wanting to drop out? ?á

And, anthropologically on a larger scale, if the Aka way is so wonderful, why are the Aka not more successful as a group? ?áWhy are they so vulnerable to encroaching influences that their way of life is disappearing? ?áOk, I'm bieing unfair to Hopgood because I'm asking questions outside the scope of the book. ?áBut I couldn't help thinking about that stuff.

Anyway, I do kinda hope that parents who don't trust their instincts, who read too many child-care books trying to find something to tell them 'the right way' to raise their obsessed-over little highness, do read this book and start having more relaxed fun with (and without) their families. ( )

Recommended by Hilary & Jerzy. Ben read this and summarized for me; I just read the introduction.

Cited in introduction:

Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent by Meredith Small

Parental Behavior in Diverse Societies by Robert LeVine et al: "By exploring the contexts of parental behavior in other cultures, we uncover universals and variables in the parental predicament and are able to place our current problems in a broader perspective." (5)

Chapters:
How Buenos Aires Children Go to Bed Late (Sleeping Arrangements)
How the French Teach Their Children to Love Healthy Food (The Things Kids Will Eat)
How Kenyans Live Without Strollers (Ingenious Products)
How the Chinese Potty Train Early (Managing Baby's Bottom)
How Aka Pygmies are the Best Fathers in the World (Paternal Leave)
How Lebanese Americans Keep Their Families Close (On Adoption)
How Tibetans Cherish Pregnancy (A Prenatal Paradise)
How the Japanese Let Their Children Fight (Scaring Kids Straight)
How Polynesians Play Without Parents (Historic Toys)
How Mayan Villagers Put Their Kids to Work (The Talents of Tots)
How Asians Learn to Excel in School (Grading the Countries)

Her running theme, that there are myriad ways to raise children and all 1) are fine and 2) deeply rooted in the culture, was interesting. But I felt like her own attempt to apply these ways to her own child felt simplistic and belied her very point. If raising a child within one cultural view has benefits, what does her sampler platter of parenting techniques do? I also thought this could have benefited from a final chapter on a particularly American technique. Surely we aren't all bad? (For a shorter, more entertaining look at the same thesis, I'd recommend watching the documentary Babies.) ( )