Read The Dangerous Book For Boys, A New Handbook on Good Old Fashioned Fun

The Dangerous Book for Boys
Con Iggulden & Hal Iggulden
Collins
270 pages

"I love it. I can't wait to make a bow and arrow," my son exclaimed when I asked him what he thought of the old fashioned, red cloth covered hardback book, The Dangerous Book For Boys by Con Iggulden and Hal Iggulden. When I'd initially handed it to him the gilded lettering on the cover captured his eye, but he took the disinterested pose of the young being handed a book by their parent. Then he started flipping through it. Then he disappeared. A week and half later, I had to go reclaim the book, so I could write this review. He didn't want to relinquish it; he made me promise to return it, and show him how to make arrows.

The back cover blurb proclaims it "the perfect book for every boy from eight to eighty." Its contents cover a wide array of facts, games and activities to fill the time and hands of readers. Some of them fan the flames of imagination while others are firmly grounded in history and real life situations. The book tells readers how to make a battery, a go-cart and the greatest paper airplane in the world. The authors present facts and famous documents with which the well-read young man should be familiar. For example, they discuss the seven wonders of the ancient and modern worlds and the Declaration of Independence. A guide to grammar as well as one to girls are also included. A young man must also know how to entertain himself and his friends, so a few games, poker, chess, marbles, coin tricks and the like are included as well.

This book is a multimedia experience. Drawings, diagrams and photographs illustrate the activities explained by the book. The authors bring the book into the digital age by offering activity badges on the book website for readers to print as they complete various activities in the book. They can also print a certificate from the website to mark their accomplishments.

A bounty of educational and enlightening exercises fills these pages. The historical accounts, experiments, poems and more, collected in this book, provide readers with the means to educate themselves across a broad range of topics, the virtues of successful people, science, math, English, and history. The Igguldens even sneak in a bit of Shakespeare. A word of caution, some of these activities require adult supervision. They should be considered many opportunities to create fun and meaningful memories with the boy or boys in your life. So next time the boy in your life is driving you to distraction with his boredom, hand him this book and watch him fade away into world of discovery. Just make sure you check on him, frequently.