● Joyful Bilingual Parenting: My Husband's a Foreigner, My Child's a Futurist By: Kikue Tamura Publisher: Shufu to Seikatsu Sha Release Date: 2006.6.1 Paperback, 127 pages Daily surprises in cross-cultural communication, unseen in marriages and child-rearing between Japanese people. An illustrated essay that comically and lyrically depicts the joy of "difference." Table of Contents Chapter 1: Is My Child an Alien?! (What to do about a name; No Mongolian spots! and more) Chapter 2: Jump Out into the World! (Birthday celebrations; The many worries of vaccinations, and more) Chapter 3: Here it Comes, the Language Problem (Sorry, not bilingual; Beginning baby sign language, and more) Chapter 4: Haru Climbs the Stairs to Childhood (Vegetarian baby food; English-obsessed? and more) Chapter 5: The Future of Bilingual Parenting (Thinking about future education; Visiting senior bilingual families, and more) The environment and culture in which you grew up unconsciously seep into the field of child-rearing. What if that were with a foreign husband...? Haru-kun, born between the author and her American husband, Steve, is almost 2 years old. Their daily life is a series of "cross-cultural communication." The differences between Japan and America in how they name children, and their views on child-rearing. Discoveries like "No Mongolian spots!" and "A cleft chin!" The author, Tamura, who says "Sorry, I'm not bilingual," comically depicts the "fun because it's different" life in illustrations and essays, which is unseen in marriages and child-rearing between Japanese people. "Oh, that's how you say it in English," "That's how it is in America"...etc. With this book, laugh a little and enjoy a bit of a bilingual mood!