Bringing up Bebe / Pamela Druckerman / 284 pgs.

Pamela Druckermann, an American journalist writes about her time living and raising her children in France.  Druckermann, believes that French children are extremely well-behaved and eat well rounded meals without complaint; so she goes out in search of what makes this so.  The result is the very entertaining and informative book about French values and parenting styles.  Basically, Druckermann feels that Americans are overwhelmed with parenting theories and are too overprotective (ie helicopter parenting) and also to lenient with discipline so as not to crush our child's souls.  There is also a big difference on how the French view their roles as parents versus Americans.  American moms tend to give up their old identity and take on their new role as "mom".  While the French feel that they are parents, but they are still the person they were before the baby and they try to continue to cultivate that persona. 
Druckermann, feels we need to be more like the French and let our children be more independent to discover the world and to handle their own problems.  She also writes about sleeping, mealtimes, the education system, and motherhood.