Thursday Things I’ve Learned from Books

9Oct/080

Thursday Things I Learned From Books…The Dangerous Book for Boys

This week’s Thursday Things I Learned come from Gonn & Hal Iggulden’s The Dangerous Book for Boys found in my 7 year old’s book collection.

“In this age of video games and cell phones, there must still be a place for knots, tree houses, and stories of incredible courage. The one thing that we always say about childhood is that we seemed to have more time back then. This book will help you recapture those Sunday afternoons and long summers – because they’re still long if you know how to look at them.”

· I learned 5 different knots…Reef Knot, Figure Eight, Bowline, Sheet Bend, and the Clove Hitch.

· You can make a battery out of 10 quarters, aluminum foil, blotting paper, copper wire, cider vinegar, salt, bowl, masking tape, and LED light.

· I’m 30 years old but I still want to build my own tree house one day with my kids and sleep under the sky in it.

· Advice about girls…”It is important to listen” “Be careful with humor”, “flowers really do work – women love them”, Don’t put your name on Valentines Day cards as “the whole point is the excitement a girl feels, wondering who finds her attractive”, “Avoid being vulgar”, Play a sport of some kind”, “Make sure you are well scrubbed, your nails are clean and your hair is washed”

· The official nicknames of the states I have lived in: California – The Golden State, Maryland – The Old Line State, Texas – The Lone Star State, and North Carolina – The Tar Heel State

· How to make a cloth fireproof…dip cloth in 1 lb 1 oz of alum dissolved in hot water then let air dry.

· Secret ink that displays secret writing after being heated include milk, lemon juice, egg white, and even urine.

17Sep/080

Thursday things I learned from books…Daring Book for Girls

New theme for Thursdays...Things I learned from books...This week it's from the Daring Book for Girls. It's actually a great book for girls and my almost 9 year old LOVES it as do I!

There are FOURTEEN types of tag games: Blob tag/Chinese Dragon tag, Freeze tag, Tornado tag (talk about a dizzy but fun one!), TV tag, Shadow tag, Time Warp tag, Line tag, Zombie tag, Electric tag, Battle tag, Inverted tag, Infection tag, Hot Lava tag, and Hide and Seek tag...
"Bonjour ma petite chou, t'as passe une bonne journee?" means "Hello my little cabbage, did you have a good day?"
Vinegar applied to the body is a mosquito repellent
Julia Child was a spy before she became a famouse chef
Math trick: The Sutra Multiplying trick..."By one more than the one before" to be used when squaring numbers ending in 5...Example...35(squared)=....5(sqaured)2 will always be 25 so that is the ending number of your answer and part 1...In "35" the number "before" the last is "3". "One more" than 3 is 4. Multiply 3*4 to get 12 then put it before the ending 25 so the answer is 1225...35 (squared)=1225.

FROM THE AUTHOR’S WEBSITE…”The Daring Book for Girls is the essential guide to girlhood, covering everything from school-yard games to great women in history! It's filled with things to know and do that are perfect for every girl with an independent spirit and a love of adventure.” The Daring Book for Girls is the manual for everything that girls need to know—and that doesn't mean sewing buttonholes! Whether it's female heroes in history, secret note-passing skills, science projects, friendship bracelets, double dutch, cats cradle, the perfect cartwheel or the eternal mystery of what boys are thinking, this book has it all. But it's not just a guide to giggling at sleepovers—although that's included, of course! Whether readers consider themselves tomboys, girly-girls, or a little bit of both, this book is every girl's invitation to adventure.” from Harpers Collins

You can browse a bit of the book utilizing the widget below...