May 7, 2007 8:48 AM
The Dangerous Book for Boys
Here we've just been talking about how we moms need to make an effort to nurture our boys' spirit of adventure and along comes a perfect book: The Dangerous Book for Boys! My friend Carol at Parenting Decisions wrote me about this today and I ordered my copy immediately.
Isn't it a fabulous cover? This was a bestseller in the UK, but has been completely redone for the United States market. Look what's inside:
The bestselling book for every boy from eight to eighty, covering essential boyhood skills such as building tree houses, learning how to fish, finding true north, and even answering the age old question of what the big deal with girls is.In this digital age there is still a place for knots, skimming stones and stories of incredible courage. This book recaptures Sunday afternoons, stimulates curiosity, and makes for great father-son activities. The brothers Conn and Hal have put together a wonderful collection of all things that make being young or young at heart fun—building go-carts and electromagnets, identifying insects and spiders, and flying the world's best paper airplanes.
The completely revised American Edition includes:
The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know
Stickball
Slingshots
Fossils
Building a Treehouse
Making a Bow and Arrow
Fishing (revised with US Fish)
Timers and Tripwires
Baseball's "Most Valuable Players"
Famous Battles-Including Lexington and Concord, The Alamo, and Gettysburg
Spies-Codes and Ciphers
Making a Go-Cart
Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary
Girls
Cloud Formations
The States of the U.S.
Mountains of the U.S.
Navigation
The Declaration of Independence
Skimming Stones
Making a Periscope
The Ten Commandments
Common US Trees
Timeline of American History
Wow.
Here's the scoop on the authors:
Conn and Hal Iggulden are two brothers who have not forgotten what it was like to be boys. Conn taught for many years before becoming one of the most admired and popular young historical novelists with his Emperor series, based on the life of Julius Caesar, and his newly embarked series on Genghis Khan, while Hal is a theater director. We asked Conn about their collaboration.
Moms, I just want to encourage you to take all our recent discussion about boyhood to heart. My Four Musketeers (that's what they called themselves when they were growing up) - Josh, Matt, Ben and Zach - are now 19-23 and the spirit of adventure has stuck with them. I really thank their dad for leading them through good heroic literature and I thank God that I loosened my apron strings early on and stopped trying to tame them. Yes, they are very well-mannered and kind and compassionate, but they are also manly men - and you can't grow a manly man unless you learn to respect how God has made them.
Blessings to you and your sons! If you let go, they will teach you a lot!
Posted in Books, Boys | Permalink
Comments
I bought this about a month ago - I've been hiding it for father's day. Being in Switzerland most of our English language books are the British edition, so my version has rather a lot about cricket and the House of Hannover in it. The one time I get present-buying done early I wish I'd waited to get a US edition! Who knew they'd revise it? Oh well. I've already enscribed it, so I can't return the one I've got. Well, cricket and Kipling aren't all bad I guess. The hands-on stuff (knots, paper planes etc) looks the same. I can't wait for my two guys to start having fun with it!
Posted by: swissmiss | May 7, 2007 9:51 AM
My hubs just took our 13-yo son to Borders yesterday to meet the author and purchase this book. They had a blast!
Neither my husband or son are the most adventurous, rowdy kind of guys so I was really pleased when this whole idea came from them! My son enjoyed most of all meeting a 'Real Author' which is his dream job ... in addition, they made a waterbomb out of paper and water right there in Borders.
Posted by: floorplan | May 7, 2007 10:10 AM
o Swissmiss! I would loooooove to find the British version of this book you describe. My son is into anything British and it would be a real treat for him. Barbara can give you my email...
floorplan
Posted by: floorplan | May 7, 2007 10:15 AM
So would it be too sneaky of me to wait until we go 'home' on holiday to buy the British version?
Cheers
Posted by: mcewen | May 7, 2007 11:18 AM
With three boys here, this looks like an excellent resource, especially when we will be spending most of the summer unplugged, at a cottage.
Thank you for the tip!!! I've ordered it already.
Posted by: Kelly | May 7, 2007 11:47 AM
Barbara, good resource! Since we just found we are expecting a boy this time around I've decided to start gathering classic boy books. This specific book will be a fabulous Father's Day gift! Thanks for the classic list via Tripp & your son-I'm using it as a starter list for our library.
Posted by: Imajackson | May 7, 2007 11:57 AM
My boys are actually excited about this book, although we haven't actually bought it yet!
Posted by: Birdie | May 7, 2007 2:42 PM
Saw it at SAM's Club yesterday for 14.95.
Bought it immediately, of course!
Think I might go get some more for gifts.
Posted by: mom8 | May 9, 2007 10:42 AM
Another great book for boys that my son and I found is Bart King's The Big Book of Boy Stuff. Tons of fun activities, experiments, jokes, info on gross stuff like barfing and burping. My son has about worn his copy out!
Posted by: SuperMom | May 18, 2007 11:52 AM
Another book that I think is great (maybe even better than Dangerous Book) is The Big Book of Boy Stuff by Bart King. I found this in B&N when I was helping my son look for a science fair project book. Thia book has all kinds of fun activities, and the author explains the science behind the experiements. It’s also got a section on girls, gross stuff like vomit and burping, and some funny jokes and wacky facts.
He also has a Big Book of Girl Stuff that is very cute, and a great book for middle-school girls who might need some reassurance.
Posted by: SuperMom | May 22, 2007 2:27 PM
I have three boys and it looks like this is a must read for me. Thanks!
Posted by: Laurie | June 6, 2007 3:38 PM
