The Dangerous Book for Boys

When my grandpa was alive he referred to girls as "princesses" and to boys as "rusty nails." While little boys (and big ones) can sometimes be rusty nails, I think that boys are such a blessing in life! I can't put my finger on it, but there is something that is so special to me about little boys.

Maybe it is their sense of adventure or their willingness to get hurt or be dirty. Maybe since they aren't expected to be sweet, they just seem all the more so when they are...and in my experience they often are very sweet. Maybe because I was never a little boy, the ways they are different from girls fascinates me. I never really wanted to be a boy, but I have nonetheless always found boyhood intriguing.

Yesterday I bought this new book called The Dangerous Book for Boys, by Conn and Hal Iggulden. It is a modern day reference book for boys chalked full of information on everything in which they are likely to find an interest. At the 2007 British Book Awards it was named Book of the Year. It's a nostalgic how-to guide for everything from making secret ink to deciphering Morse code, from building a go-cart to growing your own crystals. "Even in this digital age there is still a place for knots, skimming stones and stories of incredible courage," say the authors.

I can't wait to give this book to my little boy some day (if I have one) so that he can learn things that I could never teach him and that he'll most likely only enjoy doing with his dad. Even though this is a book that I would have loved to have as a little girl, I can just imagine fathers and sons pouring over the valuable information inside a little more than I would have. I'll be the first to say that boys don't have a monopoly on imagination, having fun outside, possessing basic survival skills, or a love for adventure, but this book is a diamond in the rough. It is a great reminder of all the possibilities kids see in life and the make-believe worlds in which we used to live.

Some of the topics discussed include, but are not limited to: The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World, The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know, Slingshots, Fossils, Building a Treehouse, Making a Bow and Arrow, Seven Poems a Boy Should Know, Timers and Tripwires, Famous Battles-Including Lexington and Concord, The Alamo, and Gettysburg, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Spies-Codes and Ciphers, Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary, Girls, Cloud Formations, The Declaration of Independence, the Golden Age of Piracy, and a Sampling of Shakespeare.