''The Dangerous Book for Boys'', by Conn and Hal Iggulden is a

guidebook A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...

published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

, aimed at boys "from eight to eighty." It covers around eighty topics, including how to build a

treehouse A tree house, tree fort or treeshed is a platform or building constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation, work space, habitation, a han ...

, grow a crystal, or tell direction with a watch. Also included are famous quotes, stories, historical battles, and phrases that "every boy should know." It was published in the UK in June 2006, and reached number one in the UK non-fiction charts several times, selling over half a million copies. Conn Iggulden also published a novel entitled ''

Wolf of the Plains ''Wolf of the Plains'' ( 2007) is a historical novel from English author Conn Iggulden. It is the first book in the Conqueror series based on the Mongols of the Asian steppes. It is titled ''Genghis: Birth of an Empire'' in the United States. ...

'' about

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

, which, along with ''The Dangerous Book for Boys'', allowed Iggulden to become the first author to reach the number one spot in both the fiction and non-fiction charts. Within the first week of its US publication on 1 May 2007, it reached number two on the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

best-selling book lists, being outsold only by ''

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the seventh and final novel of the main ''Harry Potter'' series. It was released on 21 July 2007 in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury Publi ...

''. Other people who contributed to the success of the book include the editorial team, which consisted of Katie Espiner and Clare Hey, as well as Helen Johnstone, who won the 2007 British Book Industry Award for best publicity campaign.

Reception

Some reviewers have criticised the book for encouraging its young readers to partake in activities that could result in injury, although there is a liability warning below the copyright information, as well as for promoting gendered stereotypes. Others have praised it for helping to counter "

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Culture" through its promotion of outdoor activities and games.

Awards and nominations

* 2007: Book of the Year award at the 2007 Galaxy

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the National ...

, the Nibbies, The book has also won various industry awards including the Stora Enso Design and Production Award at the British Book Industry Awards for the design and production team of Andrew Ashton and Nicole Abel.

Editions

The original edition of this book has a cover based on the 1885 cover for the ''Boy's Own Annual'', the yearly compendium of the popular magazine, ''

Boy's Own Paper ''The Boy's Own Paper'' was a British story paper aimed at young and teenage boys, published from 1879 to 1967. Publishing history The idea for the publication was first raised in 1878 by the Religious Tract Society, as a means to encourage you ...

''. In June 2007, the ''Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Do'' was published in the UK by HarperCollins. A small green book, it takes activities from the larger ''Dangerous Book for Boys'' and makes them available in a portable format. ''Dangerous Book for Boys Yearbook'' came out in September 2007 in the UK, and has historical facts, seasonal activities and space to note your own adventures and with a blue cover with gold lettering. In June 2008, the ''Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Know'' was released. US editions of these three came out in summer/fall of 2008. Canadian edition of the book was released in October 2008. Also in 2007, an Australian edition of the book was published. It features Australian content such as

Prime Ministers of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principle ...

with pictures for each in color and the rules of

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

also published its own version also including national content, including a chapter on

Monteiro Lobato José Bento Renato Monteiro Lobato (18 April 1882 – 4 July 1948) was one of Brazil's most influential writers, mostly for his children's books set in the fictional Sítio do Picapau Amarelo (Yellow Woodpecker Farm) but he had been previously ...

instead of Shakespeare. There is also a Portuguese edition. A sequel targeted at girls, ''The Daring Book for Girls'', was published in late October 2007. It was written by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz. The Dangerous Book for Boys partnered with science kit publisher

Thames & Kosmos Thames & Kosmos (T&K) is a publisher of science kits, board games, and craft kits for kids of all ages. The science kits cover topics such as biology, physics, astronomy, and alternative energy. The company places an emphasis on teaching real-wo ...

, who released two kits licensed under The Dangerous Book for Boys in autumn of 2009.

Similar books

*'' The Boy's Own Annual'' (1879) *''

The American Boy's Handy Book ''The American Boy's Handy Book'' is a handbook of activities intended for boys, written by a founder of the Boy Scouts of America, Daniel Carter Beard. It is divided into seasonal sections, with activities appropriate for each season in their res ...

'' (1890) *''The Big Book of Boy Stuff'' (2004) *''50 Things Every Guy Should Know How to Do'' *''The Boy Mechanic: 200 Classic Things to Build'' *''The Daring Book for Girls'' **''The Double-Daring Book for Girls'' *''The Outdoor Book for Adventurous Boys'' *''The Dastardly Book for Dogs'' *''The Devious Book for Cats'' *''The Boy's Book: How To Be The Best At Everything'' *''Kailin Gow's Gifted Girls Activities Guide for 365 Days of the Year'' *''The Double Dangerous Book for Boys'' (2019)

Television adaptation

In August 2007 it was reported that

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

would begin the production of a movie based on the book, but that project never got off the ground.

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2 ...

's production company Moon Shot Entertainment optioned the rights in 2014, and sold the project to

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

later that year. In 2017, the project was picked up by

for a six-episode order scheduled to begin production in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

that summer. The series premiered on Amazon Prime on March 30, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dangerous Book For Boys, The 2006 children's books 2006 non-fiction books British children's books Children's non-fiction books Collaborative non-fiction books HarperCollins books Books by Conn Iggulden