Providing a forum for current thought about the field of early education and care, this book reviews efforts worldwide to educate young children. The book examines child care quality, presents a cultural feminist perspective on caregiving, discusses curricular issues, and considers the role of play in early childhood practice. The chapters are: (1) "Globalization and Its Discontents: Early Childhood Education in a New World Order" (Sally Lubeck, Patricia A. Jessup, and Abigail M. Jewkes); (2) "Child Care Quality: A Model for Examining Relevant Variables" (Eva L. Essa and Melissa M. Burnham); (3) "Professional Development and the Quality of Child Care: An Assessment of Pennsylvania's Child Care Training System" (Joyce Iutcovich, Richard Fiene, James Johnson, Ross Koppel, and Frances Langan); (4) "Professional Caring as Mothering" (Noelene McBride and Susan Grieshaber); (5) "The Thematic Unit: Old Hat or New Shoes?" (C. Stephen White, Greta G. Fein, Brenda H. Manning, and Anne Daniel); (6) "'Air Is a Kind of Wind': Argumentation and the Construction of Knowledge" (Sue Dockett and Bob Perry); (7) "'We Don't Play That Way at Preschool': The Moral and Ethical Dimensions of Controlling Children's Play" (Mac H. Brown and Nancy K. Freeman); (8) "The Dangerously Radical Concept of Free Play" (David Kuschner); (9) "Play and Diverse Cultures: Implications for Early Childhood Education" (Jaipaul L. Roopnarine and James E. Johnson); (10) "Under the Lens: The Play-Literacy Relationship in Theory and Practice" (Kathleen A. Roskos and James F. Christie); and (11) "The Play Frame and the 'Fictional Dream': The Bidirectional Relationship between Metaplay and Story Writing" (Jeffrey Trawick-Smith). Each chapter contains references. (KB)