The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Know [Hardcover]

Conn Iggulden (Author), Hal Iggulden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2008

From girls to battles, from anthems to pirates to Shakespeare. The perfect pocket book of things to know for every boy from eight to eighty.

Includes Dangerous New Knowledge + Great Things to Know from The Dangerous Book for Boys

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Dangerous Book for Boys 'The perfect handbook for boys and dads' Daily Telegraph 'Full of tips on how to annoy your parents' Evening Standard 'An old-fashioned compendium of information on items such as making catapults and knot-tying!the end of the PlayStation may have been signalled' The Times 'Just William would be proud. A new book teaching boys old-fashioned risky pursuits!has become a surprise bestseller' Daily Mail 'If you want to know how to make crystals, master NATO's phonetic alphabet!and build a workbench, look no further' Time Out --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Despite finding time to write historical novels and The Dangerous Book for Boys, Conn Iggulden is in some ways better known as a trainer of Tollins. His Tollin troupe, Small and Mighty, are famous in Tasmania, where they often play to packed houses. Tragically, he lost his two best-known performers earlier this year. "The thing about transporting Tollins in shoe boxes," he says, "the really important thing, is to remember to put the airholes in."

Lizzy Duncan, with her trademark blue glasses, was a founding member of the Tollins in Art program, where inner-city schoolchildren are taken to the countryside by bus and encouraged to paint and observe Tollins in their natural habitats. Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children was her first illustrated book.

Lizzy's abstract paintings of Tollins are much sought after whenever they appear at Sotheby's auction house, and she is very active in promoting Tollin rights and registering them as a protected wetland species—or as a dryland species, if the weather's been good.

Conn and Lizzy's first book together, Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children, was published in 2009 to great critical acclaim—and has ensured that no one will ever mistake a Tollin for a fairy again.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007825110
• ISBN-13: 978-0061649936
• ASIN: 0061649937
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heavy Thinking, Light Book, July 2, 2008

By 

Celia Zitzberger - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Know (Hardcover)

This book is ideal as a "thinking of you" gift for that boy on your list. But for an actual birthday or holiday, you may want to buy the more comprehensive The Dangerous Book for Boys or the equally amazing The Big Book of Boy Stuff.

This pocket book is composed mostly of the facts included in its source book, with perhaps 25% new material. Like the original, it is attractively designed, and more importantly, it's well-bound, so it can stand up to the wear and tear of kids involved in heavy thinking. :)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute must read for Dads, single Moms, and all boys, December 9, 2010

By 

nikon300mm - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Know (Hardcover)

I have three sons between the ages of 11 and 16. I bought a copy of this book for each of them. If you are looking for a way to get the kids away from the computer and video games, this book is a great start. A great collection of Must Have boy knowledge from Morse code to tree forts. There are also great sections on classic literature (I never thought I would be discussing Kipling with my 16 year old, but he brought it up after reading this book!) Great ideas for dad time, but also a great window in the souls of boys (and men) for moms trying to raise boys alone.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do You Need To Get This Book? II, April 10, 2010

By 

fredtownward "The Analytical Mind; Have Brain... (Mocksville, North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Know (Hardcover)

That's a fair question if you already have or plan to get The Dangerous Book for Boys because 27 of the items in this book are also found in the big red book.

The 9 following items are the only ones unique to this book:

Page 1, the stories of and lyrics to several Anthems, including "The Star-Spangled Banner" (1st verse only), "O Canada", "America (My Country 'tis of Thee)", "America, the Beautiful", "This Land Is Your Land", and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".
Page 19, The Twelve Tables of Roman Law.
Page 58, Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States.
Page 78, famously fiendish Riddles, including the Riddle of the Sphinx.
Page 93, several Optical Illusions.
Page 206, Extraordinary Stories--Part Three: Neil Armstrong.
Page 214, Extraordinary Stories--Part Four: Aron Ralston.
Page 229, The Single Greatest Race of All Time: the Mille Miglia, 1955.
Page 214, Extraordinary Stories--Part Five: Martin Luther King, Jr.

In addition many of the items have different illustrations.

You expect an author to defend his own work, but I've never seen it done better than Conn Iggulden does in Amazon's own official editorial review and interview posted right on the big red book's page:

"I think we've become aware that the whole 'health and safety' overprotective culture isn't doing our sons any favors. Boys need to learn about risk. They need to fall off things occasionally, or--and this is the important bit--they'll take worse risks on their own. If we do away with challenging playgrounds and cancel school trips for fear of being sued, we don't end up with safer boys--we end up with them walking on train tracks. In the long run, it's not safe at all to keep our boys in the house with a PlayStation. It's not good for their health or their safety."

That's it in a nutshell. As some reviewers have had the (there's no other word for it) stupidity to complain about, there's NOTHING in this book that's REALLY dangerous unless you go about it stupidly or carelessly.

Those interested in further books in this series or in the companion series for girls are directed here: The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Do, The Dangerous Book for Boys Yearbook, The Dangerous Book of Heroes, The Daring Book for Girls, The Pocket Daring Book for Girls: Things to Do, The Pocket Daring Book for Girls: Wisdom & Wonder, and The Double-Daring Book for Girls.