There is no question that The Dangerous Book for Boys is only about the most useful book ever written. It is chock full of helpful tips for people of the boy persuasion, such as how to build a catapult, how to use spy codes and ciphers, how to juggle, how to make a water bomb, and how to understand those Latin phrases every boy should know. In four pages it explains more about chess then some very expensive chess books I have had the misfortune to purchase and lug home.
Near the end comes a list of authors every boy should read. I only have space list a few, but Roald Dahl, Mark Twain, C.S. Lewis (we'll get to him later on this month), J.R.R. Tolkien (him too, later this month) and of course J.K. Rowling are included in this who’s who of fantastic authors.
For Dumbledore this is the ideal all-purpose guide for distracting and educating boys like the Weasley Brothers; they’re nothing but trouble and he needs all the help he can get in that department. Conn Iggulden and his brother Hal dispense fine advice like “Don’t swagger. The boy who swaggers—like the man who swaggers—has little else that he can do. He is a cheap-Jack crying his own paltry wares. It is the empty tin that rattles most. 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.”
All very helpful until those boys blow up something else. And, don’t let this get out, but even girls and grownups will like this book.
You can read an excerpt from the book here.
I sort of think Dangerous Book for Boys is the perfect Weasley (sp?) twins book. Does anyone agree? disagree??
Posted by: Emma | May 09, 2007 at 09:38 PM
I absolutely agree...with the sections on bugs, how to build a catapult, and all the other good stuff thrown in, they'd find it hard to resist.
Heck, I find it hard to resist.
Posted by: ragdoll | May 10, 2007 at 11:02 AM