Suburban Reviews

Everyone with children has heard of the Dangerous Book for Boys. Not surprisingly when the book came out, many parents were left asking “What about the girls? Why is it just for boys?” Picking this up and running with it, Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz wrote the companion book, The Daring Book for Girls. Thanks to the Parent Bloggers Network, I got to check it out and see what all the fuss is about!

The first thing I noticed about the book is how random it is. This book is made to be flipped open and browsed through quickly, making it perfect for a certain 9 year old girl with a very short attention span. (Not that I know any of those. Ahem.) Each section is only a couple of pages, and covers an amazing range of topics. Do you know the rules of basketball? 14 different ways to play tag? How to care for a softball glove? Did you know there were female pirates? Need plans to build a scooter? Want to learn some really big words, or be able to name some modern-day princesses around the world? It’s all in there. A lot of the information is really useful; I was thrilled to see parts talking about math tricks, the periodic table, and a lot of interesting history bits. Others, maybe not so much. (Stocks and bonds? Robert’s Rules?) Overall it’s a great mix of things to do and things to know.

I think my only reservation about this book is the politics behind it. I wrote recently about how it seems things just for boys are being demonized, yet things just for girls go without comment, and this seems to be another case of that. Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the authors for recognizing and filling a gap with a well-written, interesting book. There is however a little voice in the back of my head asking why was there so much uproar when the Dangerous Book for Boys was introduced, yet when a similar book for girls comes out, no one has anything to say about it, other than great job?

All in all, the Daring Book for Girls is a great book that will take you back to your own childhood, and maybe open your eyes to all the things girls can do, if only we as an over-protective society will allow them.

If you’d like to hear more about this book, be sure to check out Motherhood Uncensored on Blogtalk Radio Wednesday night at 9pm as she interviews Andrea and Miriam about the book!

New here? Subscribe to the RSS to get info on all the latest products straight to your feed reader!RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!