The Daring Book for Girls

Mother-Talk mamas Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz wrote The Daring Book for Girls, so I was pretty prepared to like anything coming from them.  However, I was not prepared for what arrived in my mailbox from Parent Bloggers Network - a textbook-style, old-school hardback with fancy inside cover designs, silver-sparkle lettering and the sort of heft that makes me swoon.

Inside is even better.  Packed with short, well "posts" (for lack of a better word) and illustrations, this book tells you how to do everything from make your own quill pin to how to put your hair up with a pen (finally! someone to explain this).  It also contains important information such as a list of modern women leaders, women spies, women inventors and scientists, etc.  There's a section on finance and a section on slumber party games.  A section on clubhouses and forts and a section on double dutch jump rope.  My favorite part about this book is its unashamed embrace of girly things alongside its assertions that girls can and should know about first aid, public speaking, making a seine net and reading tide charts simply by their inclusion in this collection. So many times in the interest of feminism we mistakenly abandon the fun that comes with embracing femininity.  As I've tried to teach the little angel what it means to be a girl and a woman, I've found myself embracing her love of princesses for the soft, tactile touch of velvet and sparkles of glitter while reinforcing that princesses can and should rule the roost, too. I like this book's balance of subject matter.  I love the look.  I love the old-school font. 

From time to time, the little angel will ask to see the book. Once we spent a half-hour discussing the difference between Native Americans and Indians after reading the section on tying a sari properly.  Each section is a good conversation starter, and I'll be pulling this baby down as she gets to the crucial 7-10 tween period when she's really deciding what kind of a girl she's going to be. I hope she's a daring girl. Thank God there's a guide book.

Comments

[Average Jane]

I am SO getting this for my niece for Christmas this year.

[fweetieb]

Have you seen the version for Boys? I actually found more "useful" everyday info in that version. The feminist in me bristles at the fact that girls need to know about public speaking, while boys need to know more about fixing a car.

Of course, take me with a monstrous grain of salt - I flipped through, but haven't read either yet.

I do LOVE the look/fonts/layout. Very one-room schoolhouse.

[fweetieb]

ok - I am SUCH the hypocrite. I had to buy this last night. Just had to. For me.

Sad.