The Dangerous Book for Boys

You hold your future in your own hands. Never waver in this belief. Don't swagger... Be honest. Be loyal. Be kind. Remember that the hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality it is one of the finest attributes of manliness.

(Excerpted from the words of Sir Frederick Treves, Bart, KCVO, CB, Sergeant in Ordinary to HM the King, Surgeon in Ordinary to HRH Prince of Wales, written at 6 Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square, London, on September 2, 1903, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Boy's Own Paper.)

I get all choked up just reading these words. I envision a dramatic scene on a battlefield, or in a hospital room, where a beloved, ailing father clutches his son's hands, instructing him to the bitter end about what it means to be a man.

So begins The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden.



When The Parent Bloggers Network asked me to review this book, I didn't expect to be transported to battlefields or death beds or anywhere else for that matter.

But upon cracking the cover - a distinguished red hardcover with illustrations galore - I knew I was in for a ride, a fantastic adventure that would lead me to the moon and back.

All it took was one quick glance at the table of contents - The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know, How to Play Stickball, Cloud Formations, Sampling Shakespeare - and I was hooked.

I pressed onward - Astronomy, Dog Tricks, Secret Inks, Making a Bow and Arrow - and suddenly, I was a wide-eyed child again, tackling my world one overturned rock at a time. I felt excited - that same tingling thrill I experienced when I caught my first snapper (a baby bluefish), or climbed to the tippy top of our old sugar maple tree, or beat my brother at marbles.

This book is a treasure trove for boys and girls of every age.

It 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.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you...
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim...
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss...
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch...

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

(Excerpted from If by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), with my apologies for not re-printing in full. )

This book is a gift - one I plan to give many times over. You can buy it HERE if you're so inclined.

You may read other PBN reviews of this book HERE, and if you leave a comment you will be entered into a drawing to win a two-man tent from The North Face.

Lastly, and with thanks to Karianna for the link, click HERE to watch a hilarious You Tube video about The Dangerous Book for Boys. If my words haven't given life to this book, the video certainly does. Enjoy!