[.ca] The Daring Book for Girls (ISBN 0061477885)

Dull book attempting to cash in on success of a Dangerous one.:
I bought this for my niece, and I must say I'm rather disappointed in it. It lacks all of the wit and charm of the Dangerous Book for Boys and seems as though it would appeal to those children who would prefer an rather dull afternoon rather then the adventures promised. It all feels rather tame, at times even feeing like a book parents want their daughters to read in order to tone them down a bit. For example, in the section on slumber parties it suggests laying out ground rules before a game of truth or dare. Because you know what's really daring? Ground rules. And where the Dangerous Book for Boys had a very funny section on girls, the Daring Book for Girls offers up sage advice that boys can make good friends and like to do things. It smacks of a publisher realising that they have a hit on their hands and therefore deciding to rush out a sequel. With activities such as flower pressing, thank you note writing, and bracelet making, the truly daring girl is better off reading the book for boys.

For the rebel in all of us:
It's been a daring adventure reading this book, and well worth it. This is a light fun book that's not just for little girls. This is a crafty little book for girls of all ages, it will make a great Christmas present or just something special for you to relax and enjoy. Also recommended Understanding: Train of Thought.

Reminds Me of What Girls Did When I Was Young:
I was intrigued by this book's title after reading The Dangerous Book for Boys which provided me with a fun walk down memory lane. Having read that book made me aware that I didn't only play with boys when I was growing up, I also spent many happy hours playing with boys and girls together. Naturally, in those days playing together usually meant doing what the girls wanted to do. Why? They were bigger, smarter, and tougher than we boys were at that age. My daughters by comparison grew up in a different age when there was much less mixing of the sexes during play. As a result, my daughters missed out on such favorites from my youth as various kinds of tag, four square, paper airplanes, clubhouses, forts, paddling canoes, math tricks, roller skating, card games, simple gymnastics, and various other schoolyard games . . . especially tetherball . . . ah, tetherball! I wish this book had been available then. I would have given it to them. You cannot assume anything about today's girls and young women so the book covers traditional female favorites (nice handwriting, pressing flowers, jump rope, softball, using a pencil to put up your hair, slumber party games, cloth-covered books, sleep outs, lemonade stand, handclap games, ghost stories, jacks, friendship bracelets, and paper flowers. For those who don't want to feel like they are limited by being females, there are sections on tool kits, knots, building a campfire, reading tide charts, building a scooter, changing a tire, and becoming a spy. There are also sections that would be of value to any child: Robert's Rules of Order, watercolor painting, finance, negotiating a salary, public speaking, vocabulary, yoga, first aid, periodic table of the elements, and playing basketball. I found myself having a very good time reading the materials. They are well illustrated and interesting. I didn't have very many quibbles but they were mostly related to condensing material. For example, How to Whistle with Two Fingers starts with "Make a triangle with your pinkies . . . ." Now how can two fingers make a triangle? Beats me. In lists of princesses, some are noted for having gone through a divorce. Surely, there's something more interesting about those princesses than a failed marriage. As a result, I found about 20 percent of the sections weren't too usable because I either couldn't figure out what they were trying to tell me or they were telling me something that no one needs to know. But after all, I'm just a dumb old boy . . . so maybe those smart young girls today can figure it out. I hope so. I wished the book would have had a few more sections on adventuresome things to do with friends rather than merely social things. A lot of things my daughters did and loved at camp weren't covered. On behalf of my mother who always kept lots of scrapbooks, I should note that her interest was at least as strong in princes as it was in princesses. This book lacked in princes but does very well with queens and princesses. I was surprised to see that the many heroines in the Bible weren't represented here in the history of women sections. Now, there were some adventuresome women!

daringly boring:
i agree with the other negative reviewer. this book is trying to milk the success of the dangerous book for boys with content not quite on par with what was in that book. the book for boys had interesting and slightly obscure facts and activities one would enjoy reading about, and not just for little boys but in general for adults as well as kids, its an interesting book to flip through. the book for girls on the other hand had some activities in there that were... more widely known about, or in other words, common sense. examples can be found in the video provided above on this page... like bandana tying? tree swings? what do you need to know about those things other than the fact they exist? to need an instruction manual on how to tie a bandana or paddle a canoe is kind of sad. to compare the girls book to the boys book one would think we patronize our girls (which we do unfortunately but lets hope we grow out of that). i found most of the activities to be hands on and not so much intellectual, which is not completely bad, but the funny thing about 'active' activities is you learn them best by doing them, not so much reading about them. don't get me wrong, the fact that there are more so called 'hands on' activities in the girls book is not what makes it bad, its the fact that those activities are so juvenile and uninteresting compared to the information in the boys book. there were a few interesting things in the book, but overall not worth the time. the only way in which it is as good or maybe better than the book for boys was the recommended reading list at the back. there were a few good books and it was a more extensive list than the boys list (hint hint, go read those books instead of this one). of course the problem with both of the books is that they attempt to make the information gender specific which just perpetuates stereotypes and closes minds, but short of writing your own book or writing letters there's not much you can do about that other than tell your child its ok to like reading the book with the name of the opposite gender on the cover. my advice to you, buy the dangerous book for boys and give it to your daughters. or if you are really keen on getting a reference book with the word girls in the title, go with one called: Science Book for Girls and Other Intelligent Beings by Valerie Wyatt. that is a good one that will get them doing something and teaching them at the same time.

Copying is not the sincerest form of flattery....:
Iggulden's great Dangerous Book for Boys is not paid hommage to by this author...who without actually copying anything is still plagarizing his idea....so smacks more of a reiterizing of the formula for what is undoubtedly a hoped for money making publishing venture. Not that equal time for the "Girls" isn't a good thing...lets just hope that Iggulden will do it right at some point for them instead of this bore.