The Big Book of Boy Stuff

I'm a librarian. I'm a children's librarian. There's a better than 50% chance that I'm a gal. And, like most gals, I just don't understand what makes boys tick. So I bought this book to help me. I needed more programming that would be guy-o-centric. This is a great book and my original plan had been to look through it for ideas and then palm it off on my great-nephew as a Christmas present. It's staying with me. I only wish there were more things in here about boogers. I could have done a whole Saturday about boogers! Instead, (sigh) I will devote a Saturday to Flight and we'll make paper airplanes. Goggles on, chocks away, last one back's a Euro-federalist!

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

THE BIG BOOK OF BOY STUFF is, without a doubt, the book all parents of a boy between the ages of eight and eighty needs to buy their son. Why? Because, quite simply, if you're looking for a book that your son will read, this is it. Actually, once they start, you'll probably have a hard time prying it from their sticky, grimy, dirt-covered fingers.

The book is based, possibly loosely, and possibly even more loosely based on my own interpretation, of the three indispensable elements of a boy's world as quoted by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, a World War I veteran and founder of the Boy Scouts of America: "Fun, feeding, and fighting." As the mother of a nine-year son who also happens to be a Cub Scout (a show more division of the Boy Scouts up to the first half of fifth grade), I can attest that Sir Baden-Powell was totally, 100% accurate in his beliefs.

THE BIG BOOK OF BOY STUFF is divided into several "categories" which include: Activities; Dogs and Others; Emergencies; Experiments; Fireworks and Explosions; Flying Things; Fun in the Outdoors; Gadgets; Tools, and Toys; Indoor Games; Outdoor Games; Girls, Bullies, and Parties; Gross Stuff; Halloween: October 31st; Holidays; Insults; Jokes; Juggling and Yo-Yos; Magic; Making Faces! Making Sounds!; Man Food for Manhood; Practical Jokes; Rhetorical Questions; Riddles; Slang; Storytelling; Tongue Twisters Rule; Video Games; Weapons; Famous Last Worlds; and Recommended Reading. And before you pull out the parental advisory or adult supervision cards, please be assured that any and all activities that could be considered at all dangerous come complete with safety instructions, warnings, and, yes, rules for adult supervision and/or parental advisories.

This book is, in a word, fun. Fun for the boys (or girls!) that read it, and fun for the parents who watch their kids enjoy reading and experimenting. To see your child bury their nose in a book--out of desire instead of need--is a wonderful thing indeed. Although some parents will no doubt be grossed out by some of the things their children find hilarious, getting your kid to sit down and actually read a book that makes them think is well worth it.

Kudos to Mr. King for such a great book. show less