Customer Reviews

Healthful Sports for Boys: The American Boy?s Ultimate Guide to Building Confidence, Strength and Good Moral Character Through Sports, Games, Camping, ... Sledding, Sleight of Hand Magic and More!

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"Healthful Sports for Boys" is definitely in the same "ballpark" (ha ha, pun intended) as the better know Iggulden brothers' "The Dangerous Book for Boys," and should appeal to anyone who collects (or just loves) old boys books full of cool activities, useful information and good, old fashioned nostalgia for the boyhood of a bygone era. "Healthful Sports for Boys" was first published in 1910, and focuses, not surprisingly, on sports, which to my mind makes it more useful and interesting than "The Dangerous Book," which contains a lot of filler material about the history of ancient battles and such. There are clear instructions here for playing baseball and football, as well as "forgotten" team sports like "cat" and "townball." There are rules for a variety of games involving marbles, tops, etc., and directions for making and flying several styles of kites. In the arena of outdoor sports, camping, fishing, boating, canoeing, swimming, bicycling, golf, and winter sports like ice skating and sledding are all explored. There are even a bunch of easy sleight of hand magic tricks. Buried in the straightforward discussion of various sports, the author inserts moral guidance as well, with admonitions to stand up for smaller kids and to put bullies in their place, to play fair, tell the truth, etc. In the last couple of years I have put together a pretty good collection of old Boy Scout manuals and other books published for boys in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, and this reprint edition of "Healthful Sports for Boys" fits right in, as one of the best. I highly recommend it. Another great boy's book I discovered from this same publisher (Better Days Books) is YOU CAN BE A GREAT AMERICAN!: 39 Steps to True and Lasting Greatness: A Growing Up Great Guide for American Boys And for the Parents and Teachers Who Love Them. Check that one out, too!