On September 2, 1903, on the 25th anniversary of the Boys Own Magazine, Sir Frederick Treves advised the young boys of England,
- Don’t worry about genius and don’t worry about not being clever. Trust rather to hard work, perseverance, and determination. The best motto for a long march is “Don’t grumble. Plug on.”
- You hold your future in your own hands. Never waver in this belief. Don’t swagger. The boy who swaggers–like the man who swaggers–has little else that he can do. e is a cheap-Jack crying his own paltry wares. It is the empty tin that rattles most. Be honest. Be loyal. Be kind. Remember that the hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality it is one of the finest attributes of manliness.
- Love the sea, the ringing beach and the open downs.
- Keep clean, body and mind. (Quoted from The Dangerous Book for Boys, By Conn and Hal Iggulden, p. v)
This began as yet another review/recommendation for The Dangerous Book for Boys. But as I thought about what I wanted to say, I realized that more interesting than the book itself was its uncanny popularity. For a book that is no more than a compendium of card games, coin tricks, small projects, stories of battles and biographical sketches to hit the top of bookselling lists in two countries (outsold only by Harry Potter in its first week here in the US!) is an amazing feat for any book.
It is well written. It is full of useful information. Most of all, however, it struck the heart of a need that has long been ignored in English-speaking literature. What do we have that encourages boys to grow up to be young men? We have, in some instances, been so interested in encouraging our girls that they could grow up to do anything and be anything that we have forgotten about our young men in the process. As a child, I remember singing along with a little girl in an animated sketch as she taunted her older brother,
Anything you can do, I can do better.
Anything I can do is better than you.
And I dare say that this mentality is not unique to whatever program it was that I was watching. I do not watch much television, not receiving any actual channels, but when I do I am often surprised at the incessant characterization of men as bumbling fools in need of their wives/girlfriends to keep order in their lives.
What have we given our young men to aspire to?
And in case you just have to hear that song again, here it is.
[tags]parenting, boys, Dangerous Book for Boys[/tags]
I swear you have a fly as a spy on my walls LOL
My husband just finished cutting the pieces of wood to construct the periscope with my son tomorrow–from The Dangerous Book For Books. Something my son has been waiting for patiently–we bought the book months ago!
We also have two other projects from the book set aside for when he goes to visit grandpa Thanksgiving weekend: The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know and Making a Battery.
I think think the book is great in that it encourages are boys to be independent, adventurous, knowledgable, interested, charming, playful and all the other wonderful things that little boys and grown men should grow up to be. We have for too long focused on girls and in doing so we have often made boys the bad guys or the forgotten guys.
Each gender needs its role models and inspirations and manuals for feeling good about who they are and what they do; they both need acceptance and enocouragement …and not at the expense of the other.
I look forward to the fun my son will have with his book
Each gender needs its role models and inspirations and manuals for feeling good about who they are and what they do; they both need acceptance and encouragement …and not at the expense of the other.
I couldn’t agree with you more!
My children were fun to watch today…the excitement was palpable at the amount of time my husband spent looking at the plans for the tree house!
My boys are such boys! We never even owned video games until this year and they still ask “Can I go outside and play?” which I love! We have always encouraged them that using their imaginations is really what will make them creative thinkers when it comes to having a job as a grown man. I’m so glad they aren’t zombies following around other zombies..
God bless,
Sallie