THORN: Girls' version of 'Dangerous' book is daring-lite

Published October 26, 2007 at midnight

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The Dangerous Book for Boys hit the publishing world like an errant baseball smashing through a plate-glass window.

Who would have thought a book telling boys how to get in touch with their inner testosterone by doing old-fashioned manly things like tying knots and making bows and arrows would hit a home run on both sides of the Atlantic?

It was only natural that a sequel would follow. And now, mothers, it's your turn to man the first- aid kits - an edition just for the girls is slotted to hit stores Tuesday.

So will your little darlings be out skinning their knees - not to mention their freshly killed rabbits - like their brothers?

Well . . . let's just say they're more likely to be playing hearts and pressing flowers.

Notably, the word dangerous has been omitted from this new title. The book by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz is titled The Daring Book for Girls (Harper Collins, $24.95).

And while the boys were instructed on exhilarating activities, such as how to race go-carts, girls are entreated to take part in more sedate endeavors - like learning the intricacies of tying a sari.

There's even a bit about how to make a sit-upon - that tired old scouting project in which girls sew cushions so that their butts don't get dirty when they sit around the campfire. (Note to authors: That's why God invented the Maytag.)

I have to be honest here: I've been more daring crossing the street against the light. But if young readers won't exactly be swinging through trees, there's still much fun to be had in these pages.

In addition to traditional girl things like playing Chinese jump rope, the authors offer instruction in building a handlebar scooter, paddling a canoe, building clubhouses and forts and stocking a tool kit.

There's a hefty dose of snippets about worthy role models: female explorers, female inventors, even female rulers like Salome.

And what girl wouldn't want to learn how to whistle with two fingers?

Taken altogether, the book should manage to fire the imagination - while keeping the need for that first- aid kit to a minimum. As a mother of a daughter, I really have only one major complaint: At one point, the authors urge their young charges to try something new - like dyeing their hair purple.

Dyeing their hair purple?

Couldn't they just sew a sit-upon instead?

Inspired authors

Forrest Church, author of So Help Me God (Harcourt, $28). What's his middle name? Pope?

Lessing gets more

As is to be expected, Doris Lessing's work is in sudden demand after the author recently won the Nobel Prize. But readers won't have to worry about stores running out of the author's work. According to Publishers Weekly, Harper Perennial plans to print nearly 200,000 copies of the 88-year-old's 22 books with the house. Lessing's best-known book, The Golden Notebook, will get the largest print run.

Mark your calendar

• New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who appears in the Rocky, comes to town to promote his new book, The Conscience of a Liberal, at 4 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Unity Church, 2855 Folsom Ave., Boulder. Tickets cost $7. Information: 303-447-2074. Krugman also will be at the Tattered Cover in LoDo, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5, free. 303-436-1070

• Anne Geddes, known for turning babies into potted plants and big-bellied bees for her whimsical photo books, comes to the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 to promote her new autobiography, A Labor of Love. 303-470-7050

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