Up to No Good: The Rascally Things Boys Do (Hardcover)

by Kitty Harmon (Editor), Heather Gibson (Photographer), Kitty Harman (Author), Heather Gilson (Author) "In fifth grade I developed this major crush on a sixth-grader named Wendy..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Boys will be boys. Which is to say they will be naughty. Up to No Good is a charming look at the "rascally things boys do," with fun black-and-white photos of a diverse assortment of lads and anecdotes related by now-grown men about their youthful exploits. (Last names have been omitted to protect the guilty.) John, born in 1959 in Connecticut, remembers kissing rocks and throwing them at his favorite girls. Peter (1964, New York) recalls making a nun scream by smearing ketchup on his shirt and pretending to have jumped out his Catholic school window. Mark (1960, Ohio) admits to pocketing a dissected pig snout in biology class and reattaching it to a school water fountain. The stories evoke a more innocent time, when sticks and stones were the principal weapons, and a prank could be forgiven if imaginative enough. Up to No Good makes a fine gift book for Dad or that particularly mischievous fellow we all know.

From Publishers Weekly
Based on the premise that the rascally behavior of young boys is not only a fact of life, but an essential step in a boy's development, this wickedly entertaining book offers up silly photos paired with the reminiscences of "decent grown men." These short trips down memory lane describe the crazy pranks the contributors remember pulling, from tormenting nuns in Catholic school to torturing innocent frogs. One man remembers tricking his cousin into peeing on an electric fence, and another recalls the creative techniques he mastered to kill ants. Every story, however, is told in a wistful, amused tone, with the assurance that nothing was done out of malice. The accompanying black-and-white photos of boys being boys, making faces at the camera and frying ants with a magnifying glass, perfectly capture the nostalgia in these pieces, making this small volume an endearing and playfully naughty Father's Day gift. 50 b&w photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 108 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (June 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811826880
• ISBN-13: 978-0811826884
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #868,389 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Breath of Fresh Air!, August 17, 2000

By	Barbara J. Whitehill (Derby, VT USA) - See all my reviews

In this day and age of political correctness and the accompanying deadly seriousness with which we too often take ourselves, it just plain wonderful to laugh out loud at the pranks and mischievous things boys do, as chronicled in "Up to No Good." Cheers to Harmon for compiling them and to Gilson for her terrific photos! I applaud mischievous imagination over video games which simulate a frightening violence.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mischief!, June 13, 2000

By	Remy Haynes (Seattle,WA) - See all my reviews

My dad is now raising a son, after two daughters and he says whenever his hammer or saw are gone he looks for his son! With us, he says, "You just sat around and played with your Barbie dolls." Boys ARE mischief! This book reflects that perfectly, especially the photographs. Father's Day is around the corner, and I know exactly what I'm getting my dad-this book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outrageously real, May 22, 2000

By A Customer

I had to respond to an earlier review taking exception to Up to No Good, which criticized the book for its contribution to violence in boys. Com' on! This book was a delightful, insightful look at the realities of growing up male. If anything, it seemed to tame some of the realities of boyhood life. I found it interesting that it took a couple of women (editor/photographer) to bring out the foibles, characterisitics, energies, and stupidity that describe boyhood (and manhood!). Hats off to Harmon, Gilson, and Jeszeck (designer) for their excellent recapturing of childhood as only boys could experience it. Can you imagine such a book about girls? Not even possible.