But I'm All Over That Cartwheel

I'm not exactly a book groupie.  I don't wait for new books to be released very often and I don't check the New York Times bestseller list to see how my favorites are doing.  However, ever since I heard of the existence of this book, I had been anxiously waiting for its release.  And when MotherTalk announced that they'd be holding a tour for it, I actually ran up and down the stairs, squealing.

________

"The Daring Book From Girls" is, in one word, awesome.

After getting "The Dangerous Book For Boys" for Monsieur Meow this past Father's day, a small part of me lamented that there was no equally cool and dangerous counterpart for us girls.  Still, I stole the book away from my husband and pored over information about different knots, nautical language, pirate flags, and all manner of cool things for boys to do.

"And girls, too," I kept thinking.

Luckily, so did Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz, and hence "The Daring Book For Girls" was born.  Thank YOU, daring girls!

Echoes of my childhood and of the childhood I wish I'd had came crashing into my mind as I read and reread how to play double dutch, how to do a back walk-over (eeks!), and how to make all sorts of different crafts--like friendship bracelets!! or the fortune cookie!!-- one of the favorite ways of asking yourself a million times if a boy liked you without getting tired (or feeling like you were, in fact, asking an inanimate object to give you an answer.  I felt nothing but pure, unbridled glee when reading about daring girls from the past and learning about girl pirates --information which I plan to use for a birthday party soon, as a matter of fact.

It's hard to pick which one of the many different things the book teaches you is the coolest.  Although I must say: girl pirates?  Yes.

_______

But the best part is possibly that the book dares you to be a more daring girl yourself.  Even if you're the mother of all boys, this is a skill and a set of values that you can appreciate:  that being a daring girl --a girl who knows how to use tools, how to tell a good story, how to tie up a dinghy so it doesn't go floating off, and who keeps tally of which fears she's stared right in the face and which she's yet to conquer-- is a skill that needs to be taught, cultivated, explored, and passed down from parents to children.

Being a daring girl, or rather a daring person, should be a goal to cultivate in us all.

Do I recommend this book?  Oh heck yeah. 

I'm passing on the back walk-over, though.

Comments

[Nikki]

I saw book the other day... It is sooo going on my Christmas list! :)