Children's Play in Diverse Cultures

Jaipaul L. Roopnarine is Associate Profesor of Child Studies and Early Childhood Education at Syracuse University. James E. Johnson is Associate Professor of Education at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Frank H. Hooper is Professor of Child and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

"This is an exciting book. I couldn't wait to read it, and I was not disappointed. Among its many excellent features is the way in which it illuminates the cultural-ecological model of play in early childhood. I doubt if anyone who reads the book will forget the vivid images it evokes of children's play in these diverse and fascinating cultures and the many evidences of the 'overlapping layers of environmental influence' that shape its forms and functions."I believe that Children's Play in Diverse Cultures will prove a major stimulus for across- and within-culture studies employing cultural-ecological concepts. I became aware that some of the things I regarded as well-established 'truths' about child development do not apply in all cultures, and assuming they do can limit our educational practice. I feel stronger as an advocate for children as a result of reading this work." — Penelope Griffing

• 1. The Need to Look at Play in Diverse Cultural SettingsJaipaul L. Roopnarine and James E. Johnson 2. Play in the East Indian ContextJaipaul L. Roopnarine, Ziarat Hossain, Preeti Gill, and Holly Brophy 3. Children's Play in TaiwanHui-Ling Wendy Pan 4. Children's Play in JapanMichio Takeuchi 5. Peer Interactions in Polynesia: A View from MarquesasMary Martini 6. Mainland Puerto Rican ChildrenLourdes Diaz Soto and Lillian Negron 7. Child's Play—una cosa naturale: An Italian PerspectiveRebecca S. New 8. African Children's Play and the Emergence of the Sexual Division of LaborMarianne N. Bloch and Susan M. Adler 9. Meaning in Mud: Yup'ik Eskimo Girls at PlayKathleen Bennett deMarrais, Patricia A. Nelson, and Jill H. Baker 10. Culture, Play, and Early Childhood EducationCeleste Lasater and James E. Johnson Index