My Daring Girls Review
(I totally forgot I was supposed to review this yesterday — I had it on my calendar for the 26th for some reason — so this is a day late. Also, to the Blogher folks — I’m not receiving a gift certificate for this review so am not violating the Blogher ads guidelines.)
Like lots of homeschoolers, I have a small collection of books for things to do on rainy days. My favorite one is The Fun Encyclopedia, which came from a library sale like most of the activity books I have. I’ve got ‘em for science tricks, nature activities and regular every day “Mom, there’s nothing to do.” I buy them whenever the price is right and I give some away and some I keep and flip through every now and then or tell Noah to flip through every now and then. The ones I skip — sometimes reluctantly — are the gendered ones. There are an unbelievable number of old books that are “just for boys” and “just for girls” and some of them even look pretty good but I skip them because it’s a message I’m fighting a lot — there there are things just for boys or just for girls.
So I skipped the whole Dangerous Book… brouhaha, too. I figured Iggulden was sort of cashing in on this nostalgic idea, what with the hardback cover and fancy old-fashioned script. And I thought if people want to spend $24.95 to teach boys how to build a fire instead of snagging an old boy scout manual or wait until an American Boys Handy Book shows up at a garage sale and grab it for $.50. (I’m gonna add here that three out of four grandparents were really into this book in our family and one of them is handing it over to Noah for Hanukkah.) I haven’t read the whole thing through but I did check it out and it looks pretty much like the old activity books I leave on shelves at thrift stores only the pictures are in color.
The Daring Book for Girls, on the other hand, updates the genre. While I’m still no fan of gendered activity books I’m also not hugely against them (to each his/her own, right?) but if there are going to be gendered books, it’s nice to have one for girls that includes paper airplanes and forts and isn’t just a treatise on the home arts. But then would you expect any less from two feminist mothers of daughters?
It’s definitely an improvement on the dusty tomes dedicated to girls that I’ve found going through boxes of books at church sales and also far more likely to catch the interest of a kid, what with the pretty aqua color, terrific illustrations, and sparkly font on the front. Because, let’s face it, The Fun Encyclopedia is awesome but it also looks like an encyclopedia and not a book that’s going to be fun as it trumpets. (It is though — it’s a totally fun book. It just has bad packaging that hasn’t improved for sitting in someone’s basement for a few decades.)
I’ve already got a little girl picked out to receive my copy of this book (no, it’s not my daughter) along with a “changing bodies” kind of book ‘cuz she’s at that age. So this year she’s getting a book that let’s her celebrate her childhood and one to celebrate her impending womanhood. I’d say that’s pretty darn good, eh?
i’ve been very wary of this book, and the boys version, because they are gendered. as you say, it is all in the packaging, and i think they could have made one beautiful book.
that said, as with the body type books, sometimes kids like having something that is more geared towards them, so i’m a bit torn. not sure.
Most of the time we don’t pay attention to the titles & expectations that one thing is for boys and vice versa. Liv & Bri have trucks and Hot Wheels & have baby dolls and purses. When I think about books that talk about they are just for girls, I really don’t mind because sometimes kids need things that are just for them period. What I do mind, and you hit on this, is when they give how to get a boy to like you, how to iron a shirt, how to put an airlock on your chastity belt, etc.
What we are wrestling with now is whether Olivia should get her ears pierced. She’s asked for it, we were going to do it when she was a baby & never got around to it…
[...] This Woman’s Work says “It’s definitely an improvement on the dusty tomes dedicated to girls that I’ve found going through boxes of books at church sales and also far more likely to catch the interest of a kid, what with the pretty aqua color, terrific illustrations, and sparkly font on the front.” [...]