The Dangerous Book for Boys

Posted on 04 11, 2007 under Doodads by Noodad |

9780061243585Noodads, I've got good news and bad news for you today. Back in our hey day we could waste an entire saturday exploring the woods behind our houses, building random structures, and most importantly, burning things. Ah, those were the days. The bad news is that boys these days do not have nearly as much fun as we did.

The good news is your sons have it in them. They just need someone to teach them how much fun you can have with things that do not require batteries, electricity, or Wiimotes. So what are you waiting for? Go outside and start setting fire to things with your son!

If you are like me, those golden days of mindless fun and destruction are really vivid in your memory. But if you were to try to actually pass that knowledge onto your boy, you would be stumped. That's where "The Dangerous Book for Boys" comes in.

Want to win a free copy of this book? Details after the jump.


"The Dangerous Book for Boys " is the greatest collection of "boy Knowledge" that I have ever come across. Written by brothers, Conn and Hal Iggulden, this book covers such boy topics as "The Rules of Stickball", "The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know", and "Making A Paper Hat, Boat and Water Bomb". Sure, you could re-learn all of this stuff with a simple Google search, but where can you get this all in one gorgeous cloth covered manual?

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Even though there are some very UK-centric topics like "The Kings and Queens of England and Scotland", and "The Laws of Rugby Union and Rugby League", there are some exclusive chapters for the American Edition including:

The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World
Building a Treehouse
Making a Bow and Arrow
Timers and Tripwires
Baseball's "Most Valuable Players"
Spies-Codes and Ciphers
Making a Go-Cart
Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary
Skimming Stones

Still not convinced? Check out the trailer above, or this excerpt from the brilliant chapter titled, "Girls":


"You may already have noticed that girls are quite different from you. By this, we do not mean the physical differences, more the fact that they remain unimpressed by your mastery of a game involving wizards, or your understanding of Morse code. Some will be impressed, of course, but as a general rule, girls do not get quite as excited by the use of urine as a secret ink as boys do."

This book, a number-one best seller from the UK, could not have come at a better time. With the current state of affairs in the world today where the default activity involves a tv screen and a controller, it is time that us guys teach our sons what it means to be a boy. Let this book be your guide. You can pre-order this book from Harper Collins here. Or you can win you very own copy from Harper Collins and Noodad.com (see below)

4 Noos out of a possible 5
four

 

 

Want to win a free copy of this book?
We have 3 copies of The Dangerous Book for Boys for Noodad.com readers courtesy of Harper Collins. Just write your favorite "boy" moment as a kid in the comment section (You must be a registered member to win). Here's my example:

I remember the summer day when I was 10 and my dad helped me make a bow and arrow with a few sticks and a piece of string. I shot that piece of stick so many times that my fingers bled. I can't wait to teach my boys the same thing. 

Good luck noodads.

 

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    When I was 7, my dad bought a canoe and a small gas motor that allowed us to navigate most of the lakes and streams near our house. Every weekend, we\'d put the canoe in the back of the family truckster (hanging out of course, with a flag tied to the back) and head out to explore, fish, eat sandwiches mom made and perhaps most enjoyably when I was younger, I got to pee over the side. There\'s nothing better than pretending your Lewis and Clark with your dad in a boat with worms, PB&J; and \"free peeing!\"
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    My favorite memory from my childhood was camping in my backyard with my dad. We set up the tent, made hot chocolate, and watch the stars. That was 25 years ago and we still talk about it.
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    Sometimes when our lawn needed to be mowed, my dad would push the mower in all different directions, making winding paths that went around the house and overlapped each other. He would leave it like that for a while and my brothers and I would run races through the course or pretend we were exploring in the woods. The fact that I still remember my dad taking one of his mundane tasks and making it fun for the boys reminds me to do the same with mine.
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    When I was a kid, we used to go to Winter camp with our dad. It was a place in Pennsylvania called Camp Fitch. We slept in lodges, went snow tubing, snowshoed, ice fishing, rode dog sleds, swam with seals, wrestled and defeated polar bears and did ice sculpting. OK, so some of those probably didn\'t happen, but I remember it being just that awesome.
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    Fantastic! Great topic Noodad! Yes indeed, let boys be boys. As some know, I too grew up on 6 acres in a rural (some say very rural, we had farms next to us) Ohio and my days were spent doing what all American boys love to do - play in the yard. I feel it grounded me, kept me outside enjoying the sun, and allowed me to learn how to entertain myself with nothing but sticks and rocks. It fostered imagination, lacking in so many kids today, which develops into critical thinking skills later in life. So, a few more books to add to your son\'s collection:
    The Boy Scout Handbook - (preferably an older version that hasn\'t been so PCed like the newer ones).
    The American Boy\'s Handibook - written by Dan Beard, the founder of the American Boy Scouts, this is an old-school how-to book for boys with everything from building boats to snow forts.
    As well, build up your son\'s library by buying and having him read some of the classic adventure stories, ones that are not as popular anymore due to the changing times but perhaps have even more relevance because of this:
    The Swiss Family Robinson
    Robinson Crusoe
    The Jungle Book
    The Chronicles of Narnia
    The Adventures of Tom Saywer
    Treasure Island
    Kidnapped!
    Ivanhoe
    The Aubury Series (master and commander)
    the Horatio Hornblower series
    The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
    The Story of King Arthur and his Knights (also by Pyle).
    The Once and Future King
    the LOTR trilogy (do your son a favor and get the books that have the original JRR Tolkien artwork on them, don\'t get books that have cover art from the movies)
    I went on a mission to read these old classics, and found them enjoyable beyond measure. Most are surprisingly easy to read, they are the perfect stories of high adventure that all little boys flock to and remember. Plus, it gets them READING, inspires them build forts in the den and play, not sit around playing video games. Anybody have any other favorites?

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