The publisher of the Dangerous Book for Boys is to produce a version of the popular childrens’ book aimed at girls, notes Mother Talk.

The Dangerous Book for Boys is, of course, part of a fantastically popular trend for books which recapture some idealistic version of history, when small boys dreamed of conkers and tying complicated knots.

Efforts to cater to girls have been somewhat lacking, as I posted about back in February.

So, how does this new Dangerous Book for Girls stack up? Of course, it’s not out yet, but the publisher’s comments are not very encouraging:

From HarperCollins: “Amid all of the success of The Dangerous Book for Boys we would occasionally hear ‘where is the Dangerous Book for Girls?” says Margot Schupf, Group SVP & Associate Publisher. “We are thrilled to be partnering with these authors to fill this obvious void in the marketplace and to encourage girls to find fun, adventure and learning in their lives as well.”

Hmm. Sounds a bit like girls were an afterthought, doesn’t it? As though the fact that it’s taken them over a year to come up with one for girls didn’t hammer that home hard enough. That said, the contents of the book don’t sound too bad:

Among the contents will be chapters on: what you need for an essential toolkit; five karate moves every girl should know; important women of the last century; ghost stories and rainy day games; famous women spies; how to change a tire; campfire songs; stocks and bonds; making a zip line in your backyard; and more!

Overall, though, however good this book might be, it still wouldn’t be as good as a book for girls and boys.

Posted by Jess McCabe on 23 June 2007, at 7:04 PM