Where Was This Book When I Was 10?

I loved the Dangerous Book for Boys. I bought it for my husband for Father's Day and we gleefully read through the whole thing one night. T thought it was the coolest thing ever and we're going to make sure we cover every single topic with our little boys at some point.

But what about the girls?

Enter, The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz. I love both Buchanan and Peskowitz. Buchanan wrote Mother Shock and edited the anthology It's a Boy: Women Writers on Raising Sons. Peskowitz's last book, The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars, was an insightful and substantiated look at our conceptions about stay at home and working mothers. So when PBN offered me the opportunity to review their latest, I was thrilled.

I wasn't disappointed. There are so many cool things in this book, I don't know where to start. How to tie knots? In there. Rules for basketball. Yep. An intro to palm reading? Uh huh. How to negotiate a salary? Sweeeeeet! (Did I just really date myself?)

Honestly, I loved this book. And I have 2 boys. Each page of the book took me through a different stage of my life. A time when my mom kicked me out to play with the neighborhood kids and explore until the street lights came on at night. A time when a cardboard box was an armed fortress. A time when the world was at my feet.

As I read through the book, it also sparked my imagination. What do I want to teach my boys (and maybe, someday, girl) as they grow up? How to be a spy? A short history of women inventors? How to write a thank you letter? Yes, yes, and YES.

If you have girls or ever were a girl, run - don't walk - and get this book. I'm giving one to my sister-in-law for Christmas to share with her girls (and her little boy). I know they'll love it. What's not to love about a book that tells you how to do a back walk-over, how to put your hair up with a pencil (dude, do you know how long it took me to figure that one out on my own?), how to care for your softball glove, and five karate moves?