A Natural History of Parenting: From Emperor Penguins to Reluctant Ewes, a Naturalist Looks at Parenting in the Animal World and Ours

In Sweden, it is thought ""unethical"" not to breast-feed a baby. In the U.S., an average of 1000 newborns per months are left in hospitals by their parents. A female eel's job as a mother ends when she lays her millions of eggs, whereas a human child is dependent on his parents for nearly two decades, longer than any animal on earth. Allport (Sermons in Stone: The Stone Walls of New England and New York) discusses these matters and more, exploring and contrasting parenting among animals and humans, in this exhaustive exploration of a myriad of speciesDpipe-organ wasps, cichlid fish, free-tailed bats, beluga whales and beavers among them. She details lactation and milk (""the miracle brew""), birthing, nesting, incubation, fertilization, care and abandonment. Allport is most compelling when writing about the sheep she raises on her acres in upstate New York, the bluebirds she has lured to her land and her daughters. Her writing is clear and often lovely, if occasionally too technical for the average reader. A thorough bibliography is included in this erudite look at a subject that necessarily affects everyone. (Mar.)