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The secret behind Frances astonishingly well-behaved children.

When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesnt aspire to become a "French parent." French parenting isnt a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they arent doing anything special.

Yet, the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.

Motherhood itself is a whole different experience in France. Theres no role model, as there is in America, for the harried new mom with no life of her own. French mothers assume that even good parents arent at the constant service of their children and that theres no need to feel guilty about this. They have an easy, calm authority with their kids that Druckerman can only envy.

Of course, French parenting wouldnt be worth talking about if it produced robotic, joyless children. In fact, French kids are just as boisterous, curious, and creative as Americans. Theyre just far better behaved and more in command of themselves. While some American toddlers are getting Mandarin tutors and preliteracy training, French kids are- by design-toddling around and discovering the world at their own pace.

With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman-a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal-sets out to learn the secrets to raising a society of good little sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about some things and strikingly permissive about others. And she realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you dont just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very different view of what a child actually is.