Raised by animals : the surprising new science of animal family dynamics : with try-at-home lessons from the wild

Raised by animals The surprising new science of animal family dynamics : with try-at-home lessons from the wild

Jennifer L. Verdolin

Book - 2017

From a leading animal behaviourist, an often humorous look at the many surprising parallels between human and animal parents.In Raised by Animals, evolutionary biologist Jennifer Verdolin, PhD, invites parents, animal lovers, and science buffs to explore the wild world of parenting in the animal kingdom - and its implications for human families. Weaving together research on both human and animal behavior, she draws fascinating parallels in a narrative that's packed with interesting tidbits.Find out why newly hatched goslings imprint on anything that moves, and how Mexican free-tailed bats can identify their pups among literally millions of others. Plus, gain insight from Mother Nature on the big questions of child-rearing, from birth t...o 'leaving the nest':*Does attachment parenting have evolutionary roots?*Do more attractive offspring benefit from favouritism?*How can we better understand our own families?In a sense, we are all raised by animals - and that may not be such a bad thing!

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Subjects
Parental behavior in animals.
Parenting.
Reproduction.
Published
New York : The Experiment 2017.
Language
English
Main Author
Jennifer L. Verdolin (author)
Physical Description
iii, 291 pages ; 23 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 274-291).
ISBN
9781615193448
  • Foreword
  • 1. It's All Relative
  • 2. We're Pregnant! Growing Bellies, Nest Building, and Arrival
  • Pregnancy: Boy, Isn't This Fun?
  • When Coffee Smells Like Sh*t and Other Food Oddities
  • What You Never Expected to Expect
  • Can I Build My Nest, Please?
  • Born Up a Tree: When Labor Happens, It Just ... Happens
  • 3. Your Bundle of Joy
  • Aren't I Cute?
  • Are Lou Mine?
  • Let's Imprint
  • You Sound Familiar
  • What Is That Smell?
  • Touch Me, Clutch Me, Hold Me Close
  • Why Cry?
  • 4. Adjusting to Parenthood: The Physical, Mental, and Social Challenges
  • Everything Changes
  • Have I Lost My Other Mind?
  • The Parent Club
  • 5. Parenting: Breast Is Best and Other Controversies
  • What's All the Fuss over Milk?
  • Crunchy Granola Parenting
  • Staying at Home Versus Being a Working Parent
  • What's with All the Guilt?
  • 6. We Are Family
  • Let's Have More!
  • Playing Favorites
  • Sibling Rivalry
  • 7. They Grow Up So Fast
  • Feed Yourself!
  • Nighty Night!
  • Building Confidence
  • Learning to Get Along
  • Time to Fly
  • 8. No! The Nature of Discipline
  • How Old Are You?
  • Come Here! Come Hem! Come Here!
  • The Knee-Jerk No
  • When Things Go Terribly Wrong: Maladaptive Behavior
  • 9. Different families
  • Is Divorce Really All That Bad?
  • The Single Parent
  • The Stepfamily
  • Adoption: Raising Kids Who Aren't Yours
  • Does It Really Take a Village?
  • 10. A Return to Our Roots
  • Notes
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Author
Review by Choice Review

From the title, this reviewer expected a very different book. Verdolin's work is about animal behavior. Human parenting behavior has many analogies to animal behavior. Conversely, animal behavior holds many lessons that can enhance human lives and clarify the vexing "why" questions. Having studied parent-young conflict in maturation, this reviewer was immediately drawn to the first chapter. The book is a rich source of anecdotes that are scattered over the animal kingdom. The analogies, always tied to some human question, include sections on pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, working mothers, sibling rivalry, favoritism, maturing, discipline, and alternative family structures. This is light, easy, and often amusing reading, but not every analogy is convincing; yet after all, we are all animals. Species names could have been clearer if capitalized, starting with the gastric-brooding frog--a fascinating but extinct species, not merely some frog that swallows her young. Other weaknesses are the lack of numbered citations in the text, scientific names, and index. Sadly, these flaws make the text useless for most students. Nonetheless, general readers will discover its worth. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers only. --Joanna Burger, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

In her earlier book, Wild Connection, animal behavior researcher Verdolin (scholar in residence, Duke Univ.) explored what animal courtship could teach us about human romantic relationships; here, she takes a similar approach to child rearing. The book's ten chapters cover topics such as pregnancy, physiological changes, breast-feeding, sleeping arrangements, sibling relations, and adoption. Animal exemplars are many (e.g., apes, whales, frogs, fish, birds, bears, bats, cats, and even spiders). The author blends memoir, self-help, and popular science, and readers get a taste of hard science with her extensive references to the research literature. She discusses friends' parenting conundrums and works through her own early family experiences. Emphasizing her practical intentions, Verdolin sprinkles text boxes throughout to impart "Wild Lessons." Freed from the rigors of academic discourse, Verdolin lets loose in a colloquial style that will entertain some and annoy others. VERDICT Moms and dads-those open to different perspectives on bringing up baby-will find this an enlightening read, as will those who enjoy popular science.-Robert Eagan, Windsor P.L., Ont. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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