Dangerous Book for Boys

The title pretty much says it all. The Dangerous Book for Boys, a hit in Britain, is a trip back into times when play was simpler, maybe riskier, but probably no more dangerous in the long run:

Exuding the brisk breeziness of Boy Scout manuals and Boy’s Own annuals, “The Dangerous Book” is a childhood how-to guide that covers everything from paper airplanes to go-carts, skipping stones to skinning a rabbit.

Probably more fun, as well. Nothing like making your own invisible ink or a tree fort - though from what I remember of my kids growing up, such things are perhaps less unusual than some concerned adults might think. As for excluding girls with the title, here's what Conn Iggulden, co-author with his brother Hal, has to say:

“It’s not exactly that we are excluding girls, but we wanted to celebrate boys, because nobody has been doing it for a long while,” he said.“I think we’ve come through the period when we said boys and girls were exactly the same, because they’re not. Boys and girls have different interests, different ways of learning, and there’s no real problem in writing a book that plays to that, and says, let’s celebrate it. Let’s go for a book that will appeal to boys.”

Supposedly Penguin is already planning The Great Big Glorious Book for Girls. Instead of water bombs, tree forts, and go-carts, the fare will be elderflower cordial and cat's cradle. Sounds like getting short-changed to me.