MotherTalk-The Daring Book for Girls
Written by Elizabeth on November 8, 2007 – 11:10 am -
If you are looking for the perfect gift for your daughter, niece, cousin, friend, or any special young lady you know, The Daring Book for Girls needs to be at the top of your list. I received the book from the authors and founders of MotherTalk, Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz, and I haven’t stopped reading it since. I read it quickly, then I went back and read it slowly, and then I started telling everyone around me about it.
It’s 279 pages of everything from how to build a scooter to the history of Queens and Princesses around the world. The introduction to the book reminds us that “Girls today are girls of the twenty-first century, with email accounts, digital cable, iPods, and complex video games”. They seem to be abandoning childhood sooner and sooner every year, and what this book does is remind us of all the possibilities that girls have.
Would you like to hear what Andi and Miriam have to say about the book? Watch their interview on The Today Show. Or, read the reviews posted on the book’s Amazon page.
I was amazed by the vastness of the knowledge contained in this book. I had forgotten all about Handclap Games, which took up most of recess when I was in elementary school. Same with Cootie Catchers-remember making those? My daughter is still too young for most of the games and crafts in this book, but you can bet that The Daring Book for Girls is going to occupy a prime spot on our living room bookshelf, and in five years when she’s having her first sleepover, I’ll know exactly how to teach a room full of seven year olds how to make God’s Eyes and how to do a cartwheel.
I also enjoyed the detailed information on basketball (I had no idea that there was more than one type of Forward), the 14 different ways to play Tag, and the history of women Explorers and Inventors. Women in history have done some amazing and, well, daring things, and that’s something that every female should know about, regardless of age.
Go, buy this book. Let’s help teach girls that there are a lot of things they can do besides text their friends and listen to their iPods. Let’s show them how empowering it is to know how to change a tire, paddle a canoe, and negotiate a salary (well, that one might be more for you than for a seven year old!). Let’s bring back jumping rope, how to tie a bandanna, and how to write an actual letter (on paper you make yourself, even, written in secret spy language!)
This book makes me want to be a kid again. Thank you so much Andi and Miriam, for writing this book and keeping the traditions of childhood alive. For reminding us of how important women have been in history up until now, and how important they will be in times to come. For making me excited about having a daughter to whom I can teach all the things in The Daring Book for Girls. I just wish I could get the words to “Miss Merry Mack” out of my head now 
Tags: Books, Mother Talk
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