SOCIAL SCIENCES

How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting

How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting (from Argentina to Tanzania and Everywhere in Between). Algonquin. 2012. 304p. bibliog. ISBN 9781565129580. pap. $15.95. CHILD REARING
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OrangeReviewStarStrap your kid into the stroller and enjoy a tour of parenting practices around the world. Hopgood (Lucky Girl: A Memoir) takes readers on an anthropological cruise, visiting ports of call in Lebanon, China, Polynesia, France, and Argentina, to name a few. She examines parenting practices in the context of culture, child development, and her own experiences as the mother of a young child. Americans are known to rearrange their entire lives around a child's sleep schedule, but Buenos Aires children stay up late into the night. Why does your kid hound you for attention, but Polynesian children play independently? Have a kid who will only eat chicken nuggets? Kids in France value joie du manger, and Taiwanese children, not to be outdone, snack on fish eyes and jellyfish.
VERDICT Hopgood's explorations give readers a nonjudgmental flavor of many cultures, and her journalistic approach allows her keen curiosity to shine through. Any parent creating a scandal by skipping nap time will appreciate this worldly perspective. A delightful addition to the literature.
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