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