My oldest brother, Geek Guru bought one of our nephews The Dangerous Book for Boys. All the cousins in residence (of both sexes) were entranced. One niece, She of the Books, wandered around with it in hand, trying to teach Devil Dog new tricks (augmenting her current abilities, which include wedding cake eating and finding skunks). All three of my guys begged me to buy it for them, which led me to admit I'd already ordered a copy for Math Man's upcoming birthday.
The book was waiting for us when we arrived home earlier this week. The boys dove right back in, dreaming of building treehouses and making bows and arrows. Barnacle Boy appeared in the kitchen, "Look, Mom! They tell you how to shoot, skin and cook a rabbit." "Neat." "Can I try? Just the shooting and skinning part - not the eating..." "Uhhhh....."
We have lots of rabbits in the backyard, but I am certain that the township would frown on even a bow and arrow hunt. I suggested he wait for a return visit to my dad's where there is also a plethora of rabbits, who live in a field of rosemary on the hill. I've wondered for years if they taste of rosemary. Or maybe we can pair him up with MaryBeth's husband, who has a craving for rabbit tonight....
More fascinating to me even than The Boy's sudden fascination with hunting was my kids conversation about roles and gender. They firmly stated that boys are more risk-taking than girls, insist this is not a stereotype and holds in all cases. I pointed out that I was interested in many of the activities in the book, as was She of the Book and Bead Girl. Facts didn't seem to affect their position a whit...
there seems to be several postings with rabbits in them - Quotidian Grace and Terrapin Station both had written about the little critters.
ReplyDeleteI've bought this book for my nephew! He is 11 and very smart. He lives on a ranch so skinning the rabbit won't traumatize him. Building the go kart will be interesting as there are no paved roads....besides the highway!!
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