Last summer in Manhattan, a Danish couple left their child outside in a stroller while they went into a restaurant and had lunch. In Denmark you can do things like this. In fact, it's de rigueur. But not in America --- the family ended up paying a high sum to the NYPD in order to get out of further trauma with the law. Everywhere around the world, the idea of bringing up baby changes, depending on each culture's needs, beliefs, and traditions. A WORLD OF BABIES by Judy DeLoache and Alma Gottlieb introduces us, through fictionalized accounts, to seven different societies and their personal ABC's for childcare.

In Turkey, Muslims believe that only women should attend a birth, never men, and the first person to find out that you are in labor should be your mother-in-law. An Ifaluk child from tribes in Micronesia are born to be shared --- each community engages in the care of the newborn. Balinese women wear special charms while pregnant in order to keep away unholy gods and evil spirits, although they strive to continue in their regular daily lives as much as possible. Babies in the Outback are painted with various colored oils to promote good, healthy growth. There are millions of fascinating facts in this book. However, each society has one thing in common: babies are precious, and the process of conception, creation, and birth is a sacred and wondrous one.

This is a charming book, written with great care to explain each culture's different takes on birthing and raising children without sounding condescending or judgmental toward things that we Westerners might find strange. It's good to know that, regardless of the spheres in which we place various cultures in the world, whether Third World or our world, creating children out of love and introducing them into a safe society is considered a normal and purposeful endeavor in every country.