The Dangerous Book for Boys

This striking red book with black inset text and the words "Dangerous" and "Boys" foiled in gold came out in 2007 and, unbeknownst to me, was the second most popular book after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The inner cover is a beautiful washed marbling, and the reader will be delighted to know that instructions for marbling paper can be found inside.

If you couldn't guess by the title, the section "Girls" shows this is written by an author who's absolutely convinced that Boys and Girls are different species, and it's something of an amazing thing that they can communicate at all. Despite that, you will be relieved to know that the section on Girls emphasizes tips such as "Treat them with respect", "make sure you are well-scrubbed", and "It is important to listen.

Even as a young pre-teenager, I was pretty turned away by pointlessly and strongly gendered things like this. I rejected all the prescriptions of boyhood and prophecies of manhood. Today, I am even more distasteful of such a thing. Despite that, this is an enthralling book that's worth a read through from cover to cover.

The contents of the book contains an assorted sampling of short DIY projects (how to make a battery, how to marble paper, simple electromagnets), history and literature samplings, fun facts and stories, and quick skills (like skipping stones or juggling).

Page two is a great opener - The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World. The instructions are straightforward. The Greatest paper airplane? In the world? It was irresistible in 2006 and still is in 2026.

Excuse me for a moment.

Oh yeah.

I was surprised to learn that the author was a mere 35 when this was published- I imagined he must have been an old man nearing triple digits of age who would surely have been dead by the time I wrote this review.

There have been a few follow ups, none of which I have read.

• The Daring Book for Girls , by different authors. Unclear if this is licensed or an imitation copy, but it seems to be highly regarded.

• The Double Dangerous Book for Boys : a sequel to the original, and...

• The Double-Daring Book for Girls : A sequel to the follow up for girls.

I also found a recent release "The Handbook of Forgotten Skills" which, intentionally or not, reminds me of TDBFB.

There is no point to this post. Judging the book by its cover and title and some of its contents, it seems like it would suck ass, but it actually was kind of awesome.

tldr - on the first page the book suggests you carry supplies for sewing up unconscious dogs in case you run in to that problem