Dangerous Book for Boys
by Steve Watters on 06/01/2007 at 11:46 AM
Have you heard about the breakout surprise book of the year? It's called the Dangerous Book for Boys. Dr. Al Mohler's post about the book describes the contents:
This book will tell a boy how to read cloud formations, make a battery, make a periscope, and construct "the greatest paper airplane in the world." Boys are told of the essential gear of boyhood -- including Band-aids. Young adventurers will also learn of famous battles, the history of artillery, and how to understand girls.
When the Wall Street Journal reported on it, they said:
The unapologetic message is that boys need a certain amount of danger and risk in their lives, and that there are certain lessons that need to be passed down from father to son, man to man. The implication is that in contemporary society basic rules of maleness aren't being handed off as they used to be.
I look forward to enjoying this book with my sons. I know it will be a little longer before my seven-month old is ready for this kind of book, but my seven-year old eats this kind of stuff up (you should see the zip line he attempted to construct out of swing set parts).
If you've seen our Grappledecks you'll notice a "how-to" personality similar to the Dangerous Book for Boys. We had fun putting the Grappledecks together because it reminded us of the old Boy Scout guides we grew up with and we suspected some of our readers might appreciate getting some "how-to" guidance that their dads may not have passed on.
Any thoughts on the marketplace interest in this kind of guy stuff?
1. v@v said the following at 11:55 AM on Jun 1:
This sort of reminds me of John Elderidge's "Wild at Heart" -- or at least the idea that wilderness is set in the heart of the man, and he will best thrive living life through that lens.
2. Laura said the following at 12:36 PM on Jun 1:
Judging from the number of reviews on Amazon, I'd say it's going to be a hit. I'm buying it today for my brother to read to (and use to spark ideas for playing with and teach) his 5-year-old son.
Feminists hate it, of course, as anyone can tell from the vitriol pouring off the comments section on Amazon, but anyone who recognizes that boys and girls actually ARE different after all, and that boys need to be taught to be adventurous, brave, inquisitive men, will probably love it. That includes me.
3. garrett said the following at 1:25 PM on Jun 1:
i'm a librarian, so i heard about this book a while back in some trade journals, then my local newspaper just covered it. i just checked the book out of the library so i could take a good look and it is ultra cool. the authors say in the introduction that they wrote it because it's the kind of book they wish they had when they were boys. i learned many of the things in the book from a combination of sources, my dad, my friends' dads, and mostly various library books. having it all in one place is awesome. i'm buying a copy tomorrow and plan on keeping it for my kids someday. i strongly recommend it for anyone who has or ever plans to have a child someday. my favorite part right now is the page on 5 knots every boy must know, which i believe you can also preview on the book's website.
4. Becca said the following at 1:25 PM on Jun 1:
I'm not a boy, but that book sure sounds like the kind of thing I'd have loved as a kid.
I think the main obstacle to marketing this sort of thing, much more than any decline in the handing down of "the basic rules of maleness", will be the generally overprotective attitude modern society has toward children, at least when it comes to their physical well-being. Toys and games are all supposed to be completely safe these days - I'd imagine there are even laws on the books prohibiting things like classic 1950's chemistry sets, slingshots, and so on.
The nice thing, though, is that marketing isn't necessary at all for these kinds of things to get passed on. Any parent can take their kid exploring in the woods, experiment to discover the very best kind of paper airplane, or help them build a treehouse. All it takes is free time, inquisitiveness, and excitement.
5. Amadeus said the following at 1:39 PM on Jun 1:
This sounds like a great book! While I do think males and females are (and of a necessity ought to be) different, I think this will be a great book for girls, too. I love deciphering cloud formations, enjoy tinkering with electrochemistry, and haven't yet tried my hand at a periscope - I'll have to try it when I get my copy!
6. P&P said the following at 2:08 PM on Jun 1:
I'm a feminist, and I think it's a riot. The book is a riff on the old "Boy's Life" magazines from the early half of the 20th Century. A lot of the humor appears to be tongue in cheek and frankly I'd have given it to my nephews when they were younger.
From what I've heard there isn't a thing in the book about how to obtain the golden ticket code to help you solve a video game. That makes me very happy.
That being said, I think it's important for girls to be able to read a cloud formation and make a battery. It's also important for a man to know how to sew on a button and prepare a meal that doesn't involve pressing the buttons on a microwave or telephone. I'm also willing to bet that the author feels the same way.
Stop taking it so seriously. The book is meant to be fun.
7. Christina said the following at 2:22 PM on Jun 1:
I've already purchased 3 of these books on Amazon for each of my 3 brothers age 18-26. They are the ultimate man's men and will love everything in them and one day will share with their sons. Yeah for boys being dangerous the way they should be! :)
Christina
8. Jacob said the following at 3:23 PM on Jun 1:
The American Boy's Handy Book, by Daniel Beard, is another good book. It has ideas for building and doing just about everything, although much are dependent on having access to a river and forest. Aside from that (for some people) it is a very neat book.
9. Samuel PG said the following at 3:59 PM on Jun 1:
This sounds like a great book. I have three nephews and the oldest one will soon be 4 so we are just beginning to really enjoy these sorts of activities.
10. Ken said the following at 4:05 PM on Jun 1:
When I was younger, I would spend all my time outdoors, and even though my Mom would freak out that I would get hurt, and I would, she realized boys need to be boys.
Tommy Nelson in his sermon series on the Songs of Solomons put it best when he said that society today sucks the creativity out of men.
I see overbearing moms all over the place protecting their sons from the so-called dangers out there, not that they aren't real, but when is a child ever to learn the real life lessons that come from experience?
Here's to the return of true masculinity, not the type that glorifies ego and arrogance but one that realizes the warrior spirit is about setting out on your own and looking out for others.
11. Ken said the following at 4:08 PM on Jun 1:
P&P, what does a feminist entail now these days?
Kind of funny how a lot of people are writing this book off as mere humor and a fad.
12. chris said the following at 9:00 PM on Jun 1:
I saw this book in Scotland back in August of last year. It looked fun.
As for "feminists" hating it, puh-lease. Stop offering up that strawman (strawwoman?) argument. My wife is as feminist as they come, and she thought the book was funny. Of course, she wouldn't let me buy it. She was more worried about me hurting myself that my two boys getting hurt......
13. Leah said the following at 10:36 PM on Jun 1:
THIS IS AWESOME. Someone please give that book to your daughters too. TEACH OUR KIDS HOW TO PLAY AGAIN.
14. Rindy said the following at 8:45 AM on Jun 2:
This book sounds awesome...it's definitely on my list to buy. As a single mom of 3 preteen/teen boys, I have learned there are definitely things that are uniquely and innately male...and it's awesome!! I've also realized I'm a "boy mom", joining in with them on many of their adventures!! and they cook and do their own laundry too ;) God created us differently--embrace it but don't exclude it--the book sounds fun!!
15. Tomi said the following at 12:33 PM on Jun 2:
lol at "what does a feminist entail now these days"
In my senior English class in high school, the teacher (male) asked for anyone who considered themselves a feminist or believed in feminism to raise their hand. Only 7 girls and a couple of guys timidly raised their hands. Amused, our teacher proceeded to unfairly mark off random points and nit-pick on mistakes on all the homework any female students turned in for the next 1 1/2 weeks. When, of course, girls started to complain, he simply smiled and said, "I don't really believe in all that feminism crap either. I think we're past all that gender equality stuff..." I'm pretty sure that me, and everyone else in that class will never forget a lesson so well learned: all feminism means is equality.
:)
16. Kari said the following at 3:16 PM on Jun 2:
This sounds like the kind of book I'd enjoy reading. I think an adventuresome spirit and a courageous heart are not masculine-exclusive traits, but as fewer and fewer young men are taught to value them, a focus has come to restoring this quality to a boy's education. Rightly so; we need more people who are brave and unafraid to be men of action.
But at the same time, I think there is a subtle and pervasively destructive idea that just because men and woman are different (undeniably so), that girls are never interested in "boyish things" and woman who are interested in heroism, courage, and adventure are somehow compromising their femininity. I played with dolls and plastic pink ponies, and I still love to study tactics and battle and enjoy the occasional tabletop wargame or round of Age of Empires with my siblings. (The latter interests have far outlasted the former).
While this book will hopefully be a great resource for the parents of young men, I hope they do not neglect to teach young girls to have a heart for bravery and cultivate a spirit of adventurous curiosity as well. It will manifest itself in powerful ways, when you have women who are not so obsessed with fashion, relationships, popular media, other topics deemed "gender-appropriate" but take an interest in the world around them, in nature and history and self-reliance. There are ways to teach tactics to girls in a fashion that interests them; after all, I wouldn't appreciate the historical battles I love to study so much without them.
As an aside note, courageous, adventurous, highly admirable young men like my brothers are far more interested in girls they have something in common with. If that's not a reason to learn that the kalashnikov is not only another informal name for the AK-47 (it's the K part of "AK") but also a move in chess, I don't know what is. :)
17. Alice said the following at 4:21 PM on Jun 2:
Feminism, at least my 'brand', flows naturally from Christianity. If most of the Christians you know balk at feminists (or vice versa), "Faith and Feminism" by Helen Hunt is a great book to start with.
I remember a few years back, when 'feminism' to me meant 'sinner', I was at an Anglican service (I'm Baptist), and the lector began reading 1 Cor 13... I'd heard it and read it a hundred times, but this church used a gender-neutral translation, removing male-oriented words from the translation if they are't implied in the original, and when the reader read, "when I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put childish ways behind me", I swear tears filled my eyes so fast - feminism was the farthest thing from my mind, but it was like one of my favourite passages was, for the first time speaking to me, directly. Just that change from 'man' to 'adult', when I least expected it, meant so much.
Feminism goes way beyond linguistics, of course, but language does makes a difference.
18. Leah said the following at 8:12 PM on Jun 2:
Tomi, feminism goes beyond simple equality. And Chris, if your wife was "as feminist as they come", she probably wouldn't be married :P Extreme feminists are like "oh I don't need a man blah blah blah" :P
You'd have to be extreme to bring feminism into this topic. Oh wow, it's a book for boys. Girls can read it too if they want!
19. Cathy in NOLA said the following at 11:53 PM on Jun 2:
Just a side note, but if the feminists hadn't insisted on neutered language in the first place, no one would have trouble applying a verse that used "man" as meaning "mankind" (i.e. male and female). Churches that use Bible versions like that have serious issues with Scriptural authority and they HATE that God calls women to submit to their husband; that marriage is not a 50/50 thing.
I would encourage anyone who desires to read more about this to look at the Baylyblog. If you scroll down the page to the index of categories and click on Feminism. They are doing an excellent job defending Biblical femininity and masculinity.
Blessings,
~Cathy in NOLA
20. Leah said the following at 8:06 AM on Jun 3:
Cathy in NOLA: Marriage IS a 50/50 thing. Just because women are called to submit to their husbands does not make it any less of a 50/50 thing. I mean, say men didn't like a certain aspect of marriage that THEY were called to do- does that mean it's no longer 50/50? Of course not. Men and women are completely equal, most definitely within marriage, we just have different roles.
21. Joseph said the following at 10:44 AM on Jun 3:
I concur with v@v that it sounds something like "Wild at Heart" I would also recommend reading "Way of the Wild Heart", the follow up book as well.
It seems like a intriguing book about maleness and all the grunting sounds we like to make to feel masculine. But what is the point of a book to celebrate/teach masculinity if it is limited to the how to's? I am curious to read your thoughts after reading the book.
I think why John Eldridge's writing has caught on so much is becuase it encourages the masculinity but it also shows where it has its place in the Christian life.
22. Mike Theemling said the following at 12:43 PM on Jun 3:
I disagree.
Marriage is not a 50/50 thing.
Marriage is a 100/100 thing.
23. Cathy in NOLA said the following at 6:52 PM on Jun 3:
Leah, I was not implying that a woman's role is less important. Both sexes have important contributions to make to the marriage and the married state is weakened when they are absent or out of balance.
In terms of power, however, it is not 50/50. It can't be. Someone must have the greater authority, which is what that ratio is used to represent. People say that to mean that neither spouse is "boss" over the other. Biblically, that's not the case. The wife submits to the husband and not the other way around. That's why is so important to choose carefully someone who won't abuse it.
Joseph, I have read that there are issues with the Eldredge's books. I'm not sure where else you can look but here's a start:
http://nebti5(dot)typepad(dot)com/baylyblog/2007/03/a_good_review_o(dot)html
(obviously, you need to remove the word "dot" where it appears and put a period in its place)
Blessings,
Cathy in NOLA
24. Kay said the following at 8:00 AM on Jun 4:
Mike Theemling: Amen!
25. Robert J Espe said the following at 7:35 AM on Jun 5:
sounds like a good book. I think every child should also have a copy of backyard ballistics, and the art of the catapult.
26. Tami said the following at 4:00 PM on Oct 30:
Hey, they just published the "Daring Book for Girls"!
According to the description on Amazon, it promises teach how to perform the perfect cartwheel, and reveal "the eternal mystery of what boys are thinking." I may have to go check that out! ;)