Book summary

When one of the sheep in the author's herd turns out to be an unenthusiastic mother, the natural failure of something so basic as the maternal instinct sets Allport to wondering about parenting, "this most ordinary, most extraordinary of things." The result is this wide-ranging exploration of the nature and evolution of the relationship between parents and children. Fully conversant with the latest research in biology and animal behavior, the author turns a naturalist's observant eye upon the natural world of her backyard, and of human society as well. While such an exercise is second nature to someone with Allport's professional training, the lucidity of her prose and the clarity of her thought are such that any reader with the slightest interest in "parenting in the animal world and ours" will be eager to join her.

Media reviews

"The many faces of parenting, from doting to feckless, are given a mulling in this fine exegetic study from Allport...What are the tethers that bind child to parent? Why are some born with parenting skills, while others must learn and still others never make the connection? Allport tackles these quandaries by turning to theoretical literature; to the research of such figures as psychologist John Bowlby and biologist Robert Trivers; to mother's milk and attraction theory; to work that has been done on bats, beluga whales, and birds. She also deploys good old common sense, intuition and the knowledge she gains from watching her backyard bestiary to connect the parenting dots, culling what she feels are erroneous Freudian and behaviorist influences., She scours some pretty scientific terrain in prose that is not just splendid, but inviting and clarifying....It is a wondrous dance, this parent-child two-step, and Allport perfectly catches the magic nature of the bond."