A World of Babies

"... a fascinating account of parenting practices outside the western norm." Mothering

"Judy DeLoache and Alma Gottlieb's book is just delightful. What a treat to read about the early child rearing practices in seven cultures around the world. The universals and the individual differences are just wonderful. This book should be a treat for all parents everywhere." T. Berry Brazelton, M.D.

"A World of Babies is a witty, charming, and yet thoughtful and informative book that delivers anthropological insights painlessly....A World of Babies, with its seven truth-filled fictional manuals on child-rearing in different parts of the world, gently persuades us that bringing a new person into existence is always a question of culture and history. Put away your volumes of Dr. Spock and enter a world where there is no final wisdom about what is best for baby; only as many variations on the theme as there are ways of imagining what it means to create a new human life." Ruth Behar, University of Michigan

"A refreshingly creative strategy to communicate the extraordinary variety in beliefs and rearing practices that can produce healthy, happy children. Every American parent should reflect on these cultural essays." Jerome Kagan, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University and author of Infancy: Its Place in Human Development

"If you ever find yourself assuming that there's just one right way--your way--to bring up babies, read this book. It's highly enjoyable and such a good idea that I only wish I'd thought of it myself." Penelope Leach, Ph.D.

"Having a baby is a life-enhancing and mind-extending trip into new lands, much like the marvelous anthropology of child rearing in this book. Take its expedition and it may help clarify the values and contexts of your own parenting, and bring the world's children into the clearer focus of our knowledge and concern." Catherine Lutz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"A fascinating, first-of-a-kind book....We learn a tremendous amount about each culture as we read the guidelines its members might have written for raising babies, for it is in these rules that the members of a culture display their deepest beliefs and highest ideals. Their extreme differences teach us to look beyond the narrow confines of our own childraising customs and to celebrate the rich diversity of the human family." Robbie Davis-Floyd, Author, Birth as an American Rite of Passage

"...fascinating reading...." Library Journal

"This is an entertaining and educational collection of invented guidebooks spanning the globe....an intriguing opportunity to learn about other cultures." Booklist

"A World of Babies is a fascinating book and is easy to read. It will make a wonderful addition to perinatal health professionals' personal and lending libraries and a nice gift for second- and third-time moms who already have Spock, Brazelton, and/or Leach on their bookshelves." J Hum Lact