Children in Argentina stay up until midnight, are welcomed at adult parties and even the fanciest restaurants. I found it fascinating to travel around the world with the author learning about Argentinian children who stay up quite late and don’t seem to have some of the sleeping issues I hear about so much from friends. The author also tries out each of the different things she learns with her own daughters its mixed results.Īs Hopgood states: “We may or may not adopt what another family in another culture or place does, but we can take comfort in known that there is more than one good way to get a baby to sleep, transport her from place to place, and feed her.here are many ways to be a good parent in the world.” Something all new and established parents need to be reminded of on those worst days. It has the right amount of information about different countries and cultures without preaching that this or that culture does it so much better. I was intrigued by Hopgood’s book and How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm didn’t disappoint.
I wasn’t prepared for what a fun and wild ride I was embarking on with this book. Shortly after we brought our daughter home, a friend recommended Mei-Ling Hopgood’s How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting. Once in a while a book would come along and it would pique my interest. When we started the adoption process, I didn’t want to read many parenting books for fear of jinxing our chances of becoming parents. My husband and I are new parents through adoption. As a children’s librarian, I’ve been fascinated by the not-so-traditional books about childhood development, such as Nutureshock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, and books about kids, such as Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood by Susan Linn. An excellent non-fiction book about the North and South Poles that provides kids with a clear introduction to the Arctic’s climate, seasons, animals, plants, and people.My journey to parenthood is different from that of some of my friends and not so different from other friends. North Pole, South Pole by Nancy Smiler Levinson and Diane Dawson Hearn. Jean Craighead George has written another story of Arctic life entitled Snow Bear. Written by the author of My Side of the Mountain, Arctic Son describes the adventures of a young boy growing up in an Inupiat village. Ages 4+Īrctic Son by Jean Craighead George and Wendell Minor. Sled Dogs Run by Jonathan London. Set in Alaska, Sled Dogs Run describes a young girl’s first solo run as a musher. Ookpik describes the topography of the Arctic tundra and the transitions from Arctic tundra to taiga to the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, United States, that the snowy owl observes during his flight. The snowy old travels from Northern Canada to the United States in the fall and returns to Northern Canada in the spring. Building an Igloo explains that while the Inuit no longer live in igloos, the father and son in this book build igloos when they go hunting.
A fascinating book about an Inuit father and son building an igloo. Ages 4+īuilding an Igloo by Ulli Steltzer. Amiqqaq learns about the customs and spiritual significance of whaling to the Inupiat people. When Amiqqaq’a father, a whaling captain, returns home and announces that a whale has given itself to their village, Amiqqaq asks to go with his father to help prepare the whale and celebrate. The story of a successful whaling trip told from the point of view of a six-year-old Inupiaq boy named Amiqqaq. When men in the village decide to kill the polar bear, the woman must send the polar bear away. The polar bear provides meat and fish for the women. An Inuit folktale about an old woman who takes in an orphan polar bear. The Polar Bear Son: An Inuit Tale by Lydia Dabcovich. The story ends with a recipe for akutaq (Eskimo ice cream) served each year with berries at the fall festival. A magical story about how tasty salmonberries, raspberries, cranberries and blueberries came to grow on the tundra.
Ages 3+īerry Magic by Teri Sloat and Betty Huffmon. A tall tale about a man Kumak and his family who go ice fishing, with a hilarious ending. The beautiful illustrations depict Inuit culture. The conversation could take place between a mother and daughter in any country. A dialog between mother and daughter that describes the love a parent has for a child. The kids watching a polar bear scratch its back. These ten books provide a fascinating introduction to how people survive in the Arctic and to the culture of the Inuit and Inupiat people. It is hard for adults, let alone kids, to imagine life in the Arctic.