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The Dangerous Book for Boys (Hardcover)
by Conn Iggulde, Hal Iggulden
| Category:
Adventure, Outdoors, Risk, Learning, Life experience, Boys' reading |
| Market price: ¥ 288.00
MSL price:
¥ 268.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A beautiful, well crafted and physically desirable book that will charm and delight any boy, and father, that you know. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
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Author: Conn Iggulde, Hal Iggulden
Publisher: Collins
Pub. in: May, 2007
ISBN: 0061243582
Pages: 288
Measurements: 9.8 x 7.7 x 1.2 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00798
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0061243585
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- Awards & Credential -
One of the Amazon.com's runaway bestsellers in UK in 2006. This American edition ranks #4 in books out of millions on Amazon.com as of May 27, 2007. |
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- MSL Picks -
"I don't want to do anything but get fat and pasty and sit in front of a video screen." Has any boy ever said that? Of course not. But sadly, these days that's exactly what so many of them do. This book makes a good antidote.
A clear-cut, easy-to-use guide for parents to help their children live full childhoods, it serves a role similar to books like What Your First Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good First-Grade Education (The Core Knowledge Series). Much like lessons in a textbook, the various topics each stand alone on their own pages and are illustrated with drawings, photographs, or both.
And it's not just Tom Sawyer stuff. The book also includes academic topics such as grammar, geography, the solar system, even the Ten Commandments. See that table-of-contents-like list above, on this page's "product description"? That's less than half of what's here! There are 46 other articles, too, each one to four pages long:
1. Essential Gear
2. Questions About the World
3. Making a Battery
4. The Rules of Soccer
5. Dinosaurs
6. Understanding Grammar
7. Table Football
8. U.S. Naval Flag Codes
9. Making Crystals
10. Insects and Spiders
11. Juggling
12. Making a Paper Hat, Boat and Water Bomb
13. Astronomy -- the Study of the Heavens
14. Marbling Paper
15. First Aid
16. Map of the United States
17. Extraordinary Stories
18. Making Cloth Fireproof
19. Building a Workbench
20. Pocket Light
21. Five Pen-and-Paper Games
22. The Golden Age of Piracy
23. A Simple Electromagnet
24. Secret Inks
25. Sampling Shakespeare
26. Grinding an Italic Nib
27. The Moon Pinhole Projector Charting the Universe Dog Tricks Wrapping a Package in Brown Paper and String
28. Star Maps
29. Seven Poems Every Boy Should Know
30. Coin Tricks
31. Light
32. Latin Phrases Every Boy Should Know
33. How to Play Poker
34. Marbles
35. A Brief History of Artillery
36. The Origin of Words
37. The Solar System
38. The Game of Chess
39. Hunting and Cooking a Rabbit
40. Tanning a Skin
41. Growing Sunflowers
42. Role-Playing Games
43. Seven Modern Wonders of the World
44. Books Every Boy Should Read
45. Standard and Metric Measurements
46. Dangerous Book for Boys Badges
All in all, The Dangerous Book for Boys has only two flaws. First, the old-fashioned cover implies these subjects are more suited to Great Grandpa's memories than young Junior's life of today. But juggling? Chess? Soccer? What's so old-time about this stuff? Second, why "Boys"? "What's wrong with teaching our daughter how to tie a bowline, or make a paper airplane, or build a go cart?" my husband asked as he flipped through it. I guess the author, or publisher, is aware there's not much out there for parents of young boys and is trying to zero-in on that deserving niche. But assuming "The Dangerous Book for Girls" isn't coming out soon, the title is really, in today's world, just silly.
To sum up, then, this book is useful even if you're the most modern of all families, even if you don't have a son. If you actually use it, it will become far more valuable to your child's happiness and sense of self than any video-game console, DVD, computer, or especially - such blasphemy! - the latest iPod. There's so much here to help your kid be a kid.
(From quoting Julie Neal, author of The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World)
Target readers:
Children, especially boys aged 6 and above, and parents, especially fathers. This books makes a perfect Father's Day gift.
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- Better with -
Better with
SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea
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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.
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From Publisher
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
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| View all 6 comments |
Steven Engelfried (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-27 00:00>
Grade 4-8–Intentionally old-fashioned and politically incorrect, this eclectic collection addresses the undeniable boy-appeal of certain facts and activities. Dozens of short chapters, in fairly random order, cover a wide range of topics in conversational prose. Simple instructions for coin tricks and paper airplanes alternate with excerpts from history such as Famous Battles and facts about ancient wonders of the world and astronomy. The dangerous aspect is more apparent in such chapters as Making Cloth Fireproof, and Hunting and Cooking a Rabbit, but also applies to the overall premise that action is fun and can be worth the risks. A section on stickball, for instance, includes advice to possibly flee the vicinity in the event of a broken window. The information is appropriately concise. The knot-tying section, for example, sticks to five basic varieties with clear instructions and useful diagrams. Occasional topics such as Marbling Paper and Latin Phrases Every Boy Should Know may not fit the stereotypical interests of young males, but support the general theme of cultivating curiosity. The authors refer to their own experiences as they tested the activities, lending an appealing personal tone. Tongue-in-cheek humor emerges throughout, notably in eight bits of advice offered in the chapter called Girls. Already a best seller in England, this American edition features several adjustments, such as substituting The Declaration of Independence for Patron Saints of Britain. Both premise and content should appeal to many boys, and might be even more successful when nostalgic dads join in. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-27 00:00>
Back in the 70s when I almost set a marsh on fire on Cape Cod with strike on anything matches I knew I had done wrong. I had also enlisted my younger brother who was more scared than I was when we got picked up by the fire department and driven home in a huge fire truck down a small Cape Cod road. We eventually learned how to be mischievous without it being too dangerous and also still having the perceived allure of danger. It's like walking the edge of a razor.
As childhood wore on usually all the really big scrapes, hospital visits and the like were all accidental and not attached or associated with any real mischief, perceived or otherwise. Still boys are boys, or boys will be boys, or what ever you want to call it. The perception or flirtation with danger is something hard wired in us. It's not that we want to cause trouble or get hurt but we want to move in that direction to some degree. We always know when we have gone too far and usually we never tread over that line again.
In all actuality it is really more about adventure than anything else. Boys want to seem adventurous and the feel of danger needs to be there for any significant adventure, quest, journey, or trek. After all Indy did not have it easy in Raiders. If it was easy it would have been no fun and surly not an adventure.
This book shows how to experience that sense of adventure and also where danger begins so you can steer clear of it. It is not necessarily a book to hand over to your [...] son, but I would condone sitting with them and going over age specific things depending on the maturity of your child. There are many things in this book that I still do not know and reading them on a case by case basis will be interesting even for an old guy like me.
As far as girls go, well I can only say this: "Na, na na na nah! Go get your own book." |
K. Rule (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-27 00:00>
I bought this book after seeing the author on the Colbert show (or was it the Daily Show?). I loved the idea of the book and ordered it from Amazon immediately.
On arrival if found it exceeds my expectation. It reminds me a lot of the Popular Mechanics books from the 30's & 40's that I found in my grandmothers attic when I was a kid.
The style is archaic, which is part of the charm. My 6 year old son, who really isn't into "chapter books", went nuts for this book. I think this mostly had to do with the title, but as we scanned each chapter together he seemed to get more and more excited.
Before his bed time we read "coin tricks", "Girls" and he started planning how to get the badges found in the back of the book. He managed to learn the "French Drop" and proceeded to show everyone his new trick. Tomorrow he wants to hear about hunting and cooking rabbits.
My wife was a bit nervous about the book, especially after seeing the section on hunting and cooking a rabbit. But I think she liked the section on "Girls" and she realizes that this book is targeted to boys, not Moms.
It's definitely a hit. I will be reading chapters out of it to my son for some time to come. But I don't mind and will probably learn a thing or two myself. |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-05-27 00:00>
This book has now become my gift-of-choice for next year's round of birthday parties. My parents gave it to my 9-year-old. There is fun and adventure, humor and learning, marvel and mischief on every page. You can open the book to any page at random and just go where your whim takes you. The boy in your life doesn't need to be a great reader or have a super-human attention span - each blurb is just as long as it needs to be, and there are tons of super illustrations. And what boy wouldn't be enticed by the title to peek inside? I think our Cub Scout Pack might take some of the chapters out for a spin. Great book! |
View all 6 comments |
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