Dangerous indeed

I wrote a few days ago about The Dangerous Book for Boys, a British import penned by brothers Conn and Hal Iggulden. Touted as an antidote for today's sedentary, over-protected and politically correct childhoods, the book improbably hit British best-seller lists and has now been released in revised form for the U.S. market. I received my copy today and I'm ready to give a preliminary, but very favorable, report on the tome.

One U.K. reviewer I came across said he couldn't believe the book had actually been published. I'll modify that a tad to say that I'm pleasantly surprised that it's been brought out by a major publisher in the U.S., and that I can't believe it was first published in Britain. That over-governed, over-surveilled and disarmed nation seems an unlikely place to produce--let alone make a success--a book that celebrates great battles of history, advises boys to carry pocket knives and includes chapters on how to construct a bow-and-arrows, and how to hunt and skin rabbit.

The book promisingly begins with an introduction by the authors to the effect that, "In this age of video games and cell phones, there must be a place for knots, tree houses, and stories of incredible courage." Fortunately, the Igguldens don't just advocate an active childhood, they offer an informative and fun guide to making it so.

In addition to sections mentioned above, the book includes such helpful information as: how to make a battery at home; how to play stickball; how to make a go-cart; codes and ciphers; first aid; proper construction of a workbench; plans for a homemade electromagnet; poems and Latin phrases that everybody should know; a timeline of early American history; and much, much more.

Special notice goes to a series of tutorials on understanding grammar, much of which (sad as this is for a writer and editor to admit) I was never formally taught in the public schools I attended. Thanks, New York. These chapters should give my son a leg up when he starts wrapping his own brain around the English language.

As the title suggests, the book is unabashedly aimed at boys, even including a chapter of advice on dealing with girls. But there's much here to interest girls too, so long as they don't mind the boy-centric tone.

While the U.S. edition is revised for American readers, some Britishisms slip through, as well as sections that may miss their mark. A chapter on rugby rules? It's a perfectly fine game, but American football might have been a better choice. And the section on hunting rabbit with an air gun suggests that gun permits will be required for their possession. Huh? Hunting permits maybe, but few U.S. jurisdictions regulate the ownership of air guns.

But the fact that this section is in a contemporary book for kids at all is remarkable. I used to love hunting rabbit, but I stopped because my wife won't eat the things. If I can get my wife past her aversion to Thumper and friends, I'll use this chapter as a primer for my son so we can spend some time tracking cottontails and jacks.

The book is packaged in an old-fashioned binding that evokes a boys' adventure book from the early years of the 20th century. That association will probably be lost on most of the modern audience, but it reminds me of the dusty books (whatever happened to them?) I used to pull from my grandparents' shelves when I was a kid.

Most important, The Dangerous Book for Boys comes off as fun. It's a great blueprint for an active, bumped and bruised childhood away from glowing screens and over-protective ... well, you know who they are.