Written in the 
style of the “Boys Own” literature, this book has a nostalgic (1950s) feel to it. Reading it is like reading a very long “Annual” or magazine: you find yourself flicking through for the most intersting articles.
Many of the articles (or chapters - which range from one to ten pages long) simply weren’t interesting to me, or my boys. The subject choice is rather random, which means hit and miss. Some of the “misses” were Common British Trees and Making Crystals. Australian, South African and New Zealand readers will be as irritated by all the Northern Hemisphere astronomy, geography and sporting references as I was.
Having said this, there were many chapters that were interesting and quite a few that I found very helpful.
The interesting ones included:
- Making a paper water bomb
- Making tripwires and pressure plates (SO many applications for this)
- Famous battles, 12 of them (including the Alamo and the battle that the Spartan movie 300 is based on)
- A Brief History of Artillery (what boy doesn’t like pictures of Trebuchets and cannons?)
The helpful ones included:
- Rules for Chess (this settled any disputes Oldest Son and I have over how to play)
- Pen & Paper games (I’ve been trying to remember some of these from my own childhood and now they’re back! A nice alternative to the Nintendo Wii)
- Table Football (ditto; I had forgotten this game but the tournament in the Aldin household begins in earnest tomorrow)
And here’s the real test: while many of the chapters don’t grab my boys at all, when I first got the book, it fell open to the page on paper airplanes and Youngest Son was all over that, with great enthusiasm. (I even made my first paper plane that actually worked!) Then Oldest Son grabbed it and read the section on Codes and Cyphers.
I reckon the chief value of this book was to introduce stories and activities that add diversity to my kids’ love of Video games and CGI movies. Its secondary value was in being a resource more reliable than Wikipedia the lads can to turn to for school projects (& I can turn to for help on rainy holidays).
Finally, my very favourite quote from the book(in the chapter Advice About Girls): “Avoid being vulgar. Excitable bouts of windbreaking will not endear you to a girl.”
[To which my response is: "Yeah, but what can you do?"]
(I found out that you can even download a 14 page excerpt of the book to see if it’s for you.)
***
While I’m in a reviewing mood, 3 (of my favourite) older movies that my 11 year old has enjoyed and 3 that he thought sucked eggs:
Cool:
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (go figure!)
- The Karate Kid
- The first live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
Suck:
- King Kong (the 1976 version - and he has a point)
- The original Planet of the Apes (1969)
- Superman (Christopher Reeves style)
Don’t bother trotting the last 3 out with hopes that the kids will like them…
15 responses so far ↓
themolk // Apr 1, 2007 at 6:37 pm
“Avoid being vulgar. Excitable bouts of windbreaking will not endear you to a girl.”
Well… to be frank, if that’s what you can do, and you recognise it as a talent and she isn’t interested… then she isn’t worth be interested in…
Bad Dad // Apr 2, 2007 at 12:35 pm
My boys (age range 4-6-8) love the Back to the Future trilogy and of course Star Wars.
They had a hard time understanding why the Superman Returns actor was different than Christopher Reeves.
Oddly, once they saw the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they said: “Dad, Willy Wonka’s dad is Count Dooku!” Somehow the explanation that Christopher Lee was in Star Wars, Charlie, and scores of other movies helped them understand the concept that actors move on from role to role.
Can’t wait to start showing them the Batman movies and explaining Adam West vs Michael Keaton vs Val Kilmer vs George Clooney vs Christian Bale.
Pete // Apr 2, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Yeah, no windbreaking? Where’s the fun in that??
And Bad Dad, I think you’re a great Dad getting those movies going at home. BUT don’t get me started on the “Who’s the Best Batman” question! (It has to be Christian Bale followed by Michael Keaton. Kilmer, Clooney and West should never have been allowed near the cowl.)
themolk // Apr 2, 2007 at 9:01 pm
My son isn’t old enough yet to have the attention span to sit through a film (I’m working on him!), but he will get the obligatory Star Wars and Indiana Jones feast - maybe not the second Indy immediately, but you know what I mean - and he’ll also have to be subjected to The Simpsons move (due for release July 2007) when he is older, of course!
BTW, I thought Michael Keaton was the best Batman, followed by Bale closely, Clooney played the script for every laugh it had, Kilmer took himself too seriously, and while West did have a tough job it should be noted he wasn’t ever really comfortable with the character entirely… he did well with what he had (Sock! Biff! WHAM! Wake me up before you go-go!).
Sorry about that…
Bad Dad // Apr 2, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Adam West has a special place in my heart. I guess it’s the sympathy vote because I grew up watching him. I’d have to get up at like 6am on a Saturday to find Batman on NYC’s channel 11.
Michael Keaton was definitely the best of the ’90s Batmen.
Too bad history doesn’t fondly remember the actor who played “The Bat Man” in those old B&W serials. Maybe somewhere is a bitter old man mumbling to anyone in ear shot: “I wuz Batman. It was me. Me I tell you. I’m BATMAN!”
Pete // Apr 3, 2007 at 8:22 am
The old Adam West series was satire, so I actually agree that he did a great job. He was very very funny in the role. (My favourite was the movie they did, especially the scene where he’s - I think - pulled out of the water on a rope ladder by a helicopter, and as he comes out of the water there’s this shark hanging off his leg. Batman punches shark, shark falls to the water, shark EXPLODES - very funny stuff).
The costumes are just really really bad.
Bad Dad // Apr 3, 2007 at 8:53 am
Never leave home without a can of Anti-Shark Repellent Bat Spray.
My other favorite scene is where BM is running this way and that way all over the pier, with a giant black “bomb” over his head. Each way he runs, he’s blocked by nuns, a mom pushing a baby carriage, or a marching band.
He pulls a comic aside and laments to the audience: “Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb!”
Friggin brilliant!
Pete // Apr 3, 2007 at 9:01 am
Of course! It was the Anti-Shark Repellent Bat Spray! How could I forget?
Now, you’ve got me reminiscing. (And that movie reminds me that even middle-aged men with pot bellies can save the world).
themolk // Apr 3, 2007 at 2:24 pm
No, I’m Spartacus…
Pete // Apr 3, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Another great film reference, although I’m not sure that Kirk Douglas (spartacus) was potbellied…
What about “I’m Brian! And so is my wife!”?
themolk // Apr 3, 2007 at 8:54 pm
“I prefer to be called Loretta”.
Don’t start me, on this one I’ll cane you…
Pete // Apr 4, 2007 at 8:47 am
Too much Monty Python! One last Batman reference then I’m done …
One of these things is not like the others. (How could you, Batman??)
[A little wide for the page, but hopefully the it was worth it for the laughs ... or not]
themolk // Apr 5, 2007 at 12:49 pm
There’s a great story that I am sure is urban legend about one of Kirk Douglas’s sons doing some stand up in LA, and it not going well. He lost it and berated the crowd - “Don’t you know who I am? I am the son of Spartacus?!?!” To which one audience member stood up and said “No, I am the son of Spartacus”… and another, and another, and so on… apparently he left the stage in disgust, and the crowd all standing and killing themselves in fits of laughter.
themolk // Apr 5, 2007 at 10:05 pm
See… NOW I get it (thanks for fixing the image)… Batman, you naughty super-hero…
Pete // Apr 6, 2007 at 12:02 pm
That story about Douglas’s son (whether legend or not) is highly amusing. Thanks for that! (Anyone who hasn’t seen the movie is gonna wonder what the hell we’re going on about)
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