The Parent Bloggers Network

I’m awed by the enthusiasm for The Dangerous Book For Boys - from our parent bloggers, from their friends and families, and from my own friends and family.  I’ve already sent a copy to my brother and his two sons, my father-in-law read it cover to cover when he visited us last week, and I desperately wish I could show it to my late maternal grandfather, as he was the one who ignited my own sense of adventure.

This book sparked memories for so many of our bloggers, but the one I loved best was this mother’s tale of visiting her grandmother each summer: “Almost every night we were there, I would settle down with one of my Dad’s books that were kept under the stairs in a glass front bookcase, never tiring of the boy’s-life theme from the 1930’s and 40’s….reminded me of many of those books from my Dad’s childhood all rolled up into one great package.”

While it’s fun to reminisce about our tomboyish tendencies, it can be intimidating to be the mother in charge of raising a houseful of boys.  As a mother to two boys (and step-mother to two more!) put it: “Being the only estrogen fueled being in a household full of testosterone can be pretty tough, especially when it comes to entertainment.”  Another mother agrees: “I was excited to review The Dangerous Book for Boys.  Anything to give me a leg up on this boy-child of mine would be helpful.”

The baffling behavior of boys starts early: “…the first thing he does each morning is moan, very sleepily get out of bed, aimlessly and shoelessly patter around, slowly realize he’s awake and (gasp!) inside, and bang on the back door with the intensity of an inmate to please for the love of God be let out.”  And it gets really interesting when we start to see similarities between our sons and our husbands.  To wit, check out this exchange between mother and son:

“Dylan barreled through the door after school and like father, like son, headed for the bathroom.

Wait! I called.

He turned and I thrust the book into his hands. Read this. I’ll ask you questions later.

Uhhhh okay, he read the title, smiled and disappeared.

AN HOUR LATER, he emerged from the bathroom, chewing the side of his lip and asking for paper. He then proceeded to make the two paper airplanes that have been dubbed The Greatest Paper Planes in the World.”

A mother of three boys noted: “The scope of this book is amazing, and the authors are never condescending. Of course they tell the kids when they’re going to need the help of an adult or when something isn’t safe to do alone, but for the most part kids are able to enjoy this book on their own if they want to,” and another reviewer’s husband proclaimed: ”It’s everything a kid needs to know. School should be based on the knowledge in this book.”

These mothers of sons are thrilled to have The Dangerous Book For Boys as a guidebook:  “I have a lot to learn. And I have a lot to remember. There are so many reasons that I’m thankful I’ve been blessed with a little boy in my life. And learning how to discover outside again is one of them.”  And mothers of daughters are absorbing the lessons too:  “We’ve played quarter football and designed our own pirate flags based on the pirate histories we read. Tessa is begging us to help her build a periscope, while Mira is drawing up extensive go cart plans. I am reading the sections on Poker and Chess - how I made it through childhood without learning how to play I’ll never know, but I’m working on immediately correcting this.”

One mother summed it up most eloquently:  “[The Dangerous Book For Boys] will inspire, instruct, and entertain with information that runs the gamut from practical (first aid, morse code, grammar) to intellectual (questions about the world, poetry, word origins) to dangerous (hunting and cooking a rabbit, building a simple electromagnet, navigation).  It expands horizons with extraordinary stories of courage, shares the joy of classic games (poker, chess, juggling), and sparks the imagination at every turn.”

After reading such inspired and inspirational reviews, you can secure your own copy by clicking here!

Congratulations to HomeMom3, the winner of the Vector 22 two-man tent from The North Face!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 5:00 am and is filed under Books, Giveaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.