Conn and Hal Iggulden have created a remarkable book. The Dangerous Book For Boys is a guide to all things interesting and adventurous that boys of a certain age should know and do:

• Secret Inks
• Juggling
• The Ten Commandments
• The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know
• Coin Tricks
• Seven Wonders of the Modern World
• Books Every Boy Should Read (an annotated list)

…and many more. The authors are not trying to be cool or build self-esteem -- nor do they talk down to their audience. The Igguldens just state the facts as they are. In fact, their writing reminds me a bit of C.S. Lewis in his Narnia tales.

The section "Girls" is my favorite example: “We thought long and hard about what advice could possibly be suitable...the subject should be mentioned here – as delicately as possible.” And later:  “Be careful with humor...One joke, perhaps, and then a long silence while she talks about herself.” And later: “Play a sport of some kind. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it replaces the corpse-like pallor of the computer programmer with a ruddy glow. Honestly, this is more important than you know.”

Thanks to HarperCollins to providing the book. Being toddlers, Benjamin and Jonah are not ready for this book yet, but I know we will have fun going through it in a few years. It’s a perfect addition to our future homeschool curriculum!