The Dangerous Book for Boys

The Dangerous Book for Boys
Author(s)	Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden
Country	United Kingdom; United States
Language	English
Subject(s)	Hobbies, Quizzes and Games
Genre(s)	Non-fiction
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	June 2006 (UK); May 2007 (US)
Media type	Print Hardback
Pages	294 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0-00-723274-8 (UK); 0-06-124358-2 (US)
OCLC Number	64311208
LC Classification	AG106 .I38 2006

The Dangerous Book for Boys, by Conn and Hal Iggulden, is a guidebook published by HarperCollins, aimed at boys "from eight to eighty." It covers around eighty topics, including how to build a treehouse, grow a crystal, or tell direction with a watch. Also included are famous quotes, stories, battles, and phrases that "every boy should know." It was published in the UK on 5 June 2006, and reached number one in the UK non-fiction charts several times,^[1] selling over half a million copies.^[2]

Conn Iggulden also published a book, Wolf of the Plains, about Genghis Khan, which, along with The Dangerous Book for Boys, allowed Iggulden to be the first author to reach the number one spot in both the fiction and non-fiction charts.^[2][3]

Within the first week of its US publication on May 1, 2007, it reached number two on the Amazon.com bestselling book lists, being outsold only by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Other people who contributed to the success of the book include the editorial team at the time, which consisted of Katie Espiner and Clare Hey, and Helen Johnstone, who won the 2007 British Book Industry Award for best publicity campaign.^[4] Linde Hardaker did the typesetting, Richard Horne most of the illustrations (although only as black and white; the color was added later), and Lee Motley was involved with the cover. Matthew Benjamin was the editor of the subsequent U.S. edition, of which about a third of the content was altered from the original UK edition.

The Sharpe Company, Inc. of Manhattan Beach, CA is the licensing/promotions agent for The Dangerous Book for Boys in North America and Rocket Licensing handles licensing in the UK and Europe. Products soon available include a Dangerous Book for Boys board game from Hasbro as well as calendars, science and chemistry kits, magic and illusion games and much more. The Times produced a series of free fold-up posters displaying extracts of the book which it ran for a week. There are some publicity materials floating around, which include badges used for the UK version of the website and samplers which were produced to give a taste of the book before publication. The Dangerous Pocket Book had its own publicity material which included three different postcards which featured individual face cards from the poker card section of the Pocket Book.

Reception

Some reviewers have criticized it for encouraging its young readers to injure themselves, although there is a liability warning below the copyright information, but others have praised it for helping to counter the "PlayStation Culture".^[2]

Awards and nominations

• 2007: Book of the Year award at the 2007 Galaxy British Book Awards,^[5] the Nibbies,

It also won various industry awards including the Stora Enso Design and Production Award at the British Book Industry Awards^[4] 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 cover of the Boy's Own Paper.

In June 2007, the Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys: Things to Do was published in the UK by HarperCollins. A small green book with gold lettering, it takes activities from the much larger Dangerous Book for Boys and makes them available in a much more portable format. There are a few new activities as well, such as the Bottle Rocket, and all the illustrations have been redone by two new illustrators (Andrew Ashton and Joy Gosney). 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 and it has a yellow cover. US editions of these three will come out in summer/fall of 2008. Canadian edition of the book was released on October 20, 2008.^[6]

Also in 2007, an Australian edition of the book was published. It features Australian content such as Prime Ministers of Australia with pictures for each in color and the rules of Australian Rules Football. Brazil also published its own version also including national content, including a chapter on Monteiro Lobato 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.^[7]

The Dangerous Book for Boys has partnered with science kit publisher Thames & Kosmos, which will release two kits licensed under The Dangerous Book for Boys in autumn 2009.^[8]

Similar books

• The Boy's Own Annual (1879)
• The American Boy's Handy Book (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 Outdoor Book for Adventurous Boys
• The Dastardly Book for Dogs
• The Devious Book for Cats
• Kailin Gow's Gifted Girls Activities Guide for 365 Days of the Year^[9]

Film

In August 2007 it was reported that Disney will begin the production of a movie based on the book.^[10]

References

1. ^ "UK | Magazine | Conn who?". BBC News. 2007-01-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6290333.stm. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Lea, Richard (2007-01-18). "Conn Iggulden scores a double | Books | guardian.co.uk". London: Books.guardian.co.uk. http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1993796,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
3. ^ "Author writes his way into publishing history". Freelance UK. 2007-01-19. http://www.freelanceuk.com/news/2082.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "British Book Industry Awards — BBIA Winners 2007". Britishbookawards.co.uk. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927130733/http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk/bba/bbia_winners_2007.asp. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
5. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Iggulden, Conn (2008-10-20). "The Dangerous Book for Boys: Canadian Edition by Conn Iggulden, Hal Iggulden". Harpercollins.ca. http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/9781554682591/The_Dangerous_Book_for_Boys/index.aspx. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
7. ^ "Daring Girls Ready to Break Loose". MediaBistro.com. 2008-10-12. http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/new_upcoming/daring_girls_ready_to_break_loose_68897.asp. 
8. ^ "Thames & Kosmos Press Release 2009" (PDF). http://thamesandkosmos.com/news/thameskosmos_pr_020409.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
9. ^ "Gifted Girls: Activities Guide for 365 Days of the Year: Fun Things to Do for Kids and Grown-Ups That'll Develop Creativity, Social Skills and Self-Confidence! (Gifted Girls) (9780971477667): Kailin Gow: Books". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Gifted-Girls-Activities-Creativity-Self-Confidence/dp/0971477663/. Retrieved 2009-07-27. 
10. ^ Fleming, Michael (2007-08-05). "Disney, Rudin nab 'Dangerous Book'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117969741.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

External links

• Official website