Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans

Doucleff, a correspondent for NPR’s Science Desk, debuts with a lively account of traveling with her three-year-old daughter Rosy “to the corners of the world” to research parenting techniques. Through interviews and anecdotes, Doucleff pieces together a universal parenting approach that “has been tested for millennia... across six continents” and is composed of four elements: togetherness, encouragement, autonomy, and minimal interference. In the Yucatan, Doucleff observes a familiar morning routine—getting children ready for school—unfold with no chaos, and in watching the children help one another, learns how to “transmit the value of helpfulness to a child.” During a visit to Kugaaruk, a small village in the Canadian arctic, Doucleff watches the effect of anger-free parenting in raising children who act thoughtfully. And during a brief stay outside the plains of the Serengeti, she witnesses the Hadzabe peoples’ “gift economy,” and how parents teach their children self-sufficiency, kindness, and respect by allowing them to set their own agendas. Doucleff includes specific and manageable instructions for parents (“Start with a daily time-out from entertaining and instructing your child,” for example), and end-of-chapter summaries include extra resources. Parents will find Doucleff’s curiosity contagious and guidance encouraging. Agent: Alex Glass, Glass Literary Management. (Mar.)