How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting (from Argentina to Tanzania and everywhere in between) [Paperback]

Mei-Ling Hopgood (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 10, 2012

A tour of global practices that will inspire American parents to expand their horizons (and geographical borders) and learn that there’s more than one way to diaper a baby.
 
Mei-Ling Hopgood, a first-time mom from suburban Michigan—now living in Buenos Aires—was shocked that Argentine parents allow their children to stay up until all hours of the night. Could there really be social and developmental advantages to this custom? Driven by a journalist’s curiosity and a new mother’s desperation for answers, Hopgood embarked on a journey to learn how other cultures approach the challenges all parents face: bedtimes, potty training, feeding, teaching, and more.
 
Observing parents around the globe and interviewing anthropologists, educators, and child-care experts, she discovered a world of new ideas. The Chinese excel at potty training, teaching their wee ones as young as six months old. Kenyans wear their babies in colorful cloth slings—not only is it part of their cultural heritage, but strollers seem outright silly on Nairobi’s chaotic sidewalks. And the French are experts at turning their babies into healthy, adventurous eaters. Hopgood tested her discoveries on her spirited toddler, Sofia, with some enlightening results.
 
This intimate and surprising look at the ways other cultures raise children offers parents the option of experimenting with tried and true methods from around the world and shows that there are many ways to be a good parent.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is breezy and entertaining and Hopgood is charmingly self-deprecating about her own mothering of the formidable Sofia, who emerges as a sassy character in her own right."—Boston Globe

"A pleasure to read . . . No doubt some details will be too enticing not to try, like recruiting the whole family for meal preparation and training young children to take responsibility for simple tasks. Ultimately, this absorbing assemblage of perspectives will help widen our own." —BookPage

"Throughout her carefully organized text, [Hopgood] shows enormous respect for everyone she speaks with and everything she learns... A best bet for new parents.”—Booklist starred review

"Hopgood’s text is a satisfying mix of research, observation, interview, and personal experience... Readers will laugh, marvel and muse over the many (frequently opposing) child-rearing methods that persist despite the growing globalization of parenthood.”—Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Mei-Ling Hopgood is an award-winning journalist and writer. She lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with her husband and two daughters. Find her online at www.meilinghopgood.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (January 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781565129580
• ISBN-13: 978-1565129580
• ASIN: 156512958X
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll Have Fun with Mei-Ling Hopgood as Your Global Guide to Parenting March 4, 2012

By David Crumm TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Mei-Ling Hopgood is a top journalist who now teaches at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. For her readers, that means she's a lifelong storyteller, which you'll discover immediately when you dip into this wonderful book of real-life stories that circle the globe.

She is famous in her own right. Born in Taiwan and adopted by an American family at an early age, the bittersweet story of her reunion with her Taiwanese family as an adult appears in her earlier book, Lucky Girl. For most of her early life, Mei-Ling was a typical American: She grew up as a smart, enthusiastic Midwest school kid and even got a spot on her high school pom pom squad. When she became a journalist, her award-winning work appeared in newspapers and magazines nationwide. Before moving with her husband and children to the Chicago area recently, they lived for years in Buenos Aires. Given her global wealth of family experiences, Mei-Ling was fascinated by the vast differences in parenting choices as she circled the planet.

She was completing her new book, How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm, while two other controversial best sellers in this niche were making headlines and burning up websites: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. Given Mei-Ling's background as a journalist, always seeking accuracy and balance, it's not surprising that Mei-Ling's book on global parenting now is widely compared by reviewers to Tiger and Bebe as -- the kinder, gentler book in this trio. Or, as Mei-Ling herself puts it in the conclusion of her book:

"I've reached a pretty optimistic conclusion after observing the adaptability and resilience of families in many circumstances and environments. Despite vast differences in beliefs, religion and culture, moms, dads and caregivers in most societies share a common desire: to raise children who can thrive in the reality in which they live. While no culture can claim to be the best at any one given aspect of parenting, each has its own gems of wisdom to add to the discussion."

If you've read Tiger and Bebe, then you know that viewpoint marks Mei-Ling's book as a distinctively different voice. As a parent and a long-time journalist myself, I was struck by how much fun I had flipping the pages of her new book. Among her journalistic talents, Mei-Ling has an eye for overall pacing, which means delivering those special gems that she promises at regular intervals to keep readers flipping page after page. Among those gems are little sections between chapters that might be described as fun facts. If you're drawn to this book, it's because you want to discover a whole Noah's ark of fascinating stories about kids and their parents from all corners of the world. Mei-Ling understands that desire and delivers regular doses of gee-whiz, real-life stories.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money if you actually want to learn something August 31, 2012

By Ju

Format:Paperback

This is well written and a fast read but it isn't really useful if you're looking for parenting tips - it's laid out as part memoir part light (very light) cultural anthropology. You learn a lot about Mei Ling as an adopted Chinese American and her American husband and their ex-patriate life, and her various worries.

I was looking for a book that would delve into, and tell me how to implement awesome practices other cultures might have. But this book just explores subjects that are pretty familiar to the average reading momma-to-be (at least, I assume so). i.e: if you've already looked into baby-wearing and E.C., you won't find anything more interesting here (although you will get some good research supporting why/how - for example, she went in depth into how 'early potty training' is completely discouraged by cultures that have disposable diaper industries, to the extent that now it is considered acceptable to keep your kids in diapers until 4 or even 5 years old). But we already knew that, didn't we? :)

Bottom line: I'm happy I got this from the library because while you may find it a breezy, interesting read in passing, it doesn't merit a place on your permanent shelf.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Insight for Parents March 11, 2012

By Christopher Alexander VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Since I'm a child psychologist, I found myself intrigued by this book after I heard some interviews with the author on the radio.

I also travel a good deal, and I'm continually struck by cross-cultural differences in child rearing, the freedom (versus not) allocated to young children, and parent-child interactions. On my recent trips to Spain, for example, I saw very few kids or teens who were 'hooked up' to some kind of apararatus, be it an I-pod, hand-held game, or cellphone. The love and affection between children of both sexes and their fathers is also admirable; so sad that we see little of that here (especially between parents of school-age kids or teens).

In our own culture, a good number of parents get overly-invested in 'doing it right.' While this is a concern to parents universally, we have such little support for parents--societal and familial--that it's no wonder their anxiety is so high. Parents contact me all the time, asking for books/references on how best to raise their child, fearing that one woops will damage the kid for life. I usually tell them to read one book on attachment; one on basic child development; and then to forget about the books and get on with the task of parenting.

Though none of us are surprised to learn that there are cross-cultural differences in raising kids, this book helps to illuminate the notions in starking and sometimes surprising detail. What is a way of life in one culture, for example, might warrant a report to child protective services in our own.

In addition to the stories of different cultural perspectives on parenting, the book has a way of pulling the reader in, begging us to take a look at how we were raised, as well as how cultural influences in our past affected our grandparents and parents.

This book will certainly appeal to parents, but those interested in expanding their world view will also derive a lot of information and thought from it. It's a well-written, well-paced book.